Universal Language: Cuneiform
by Ashana
Summary: The Fazbear Gang the night guard Roni knows were the first to exist, but they were not the only animatronics every built. Now, trapped in the basement of the building, she finds herself fighting to befriend a different generation of animatronics while trying to get back to the restaurant to save the Fazbear gang and her brother from certain death and dismantlement.
1. Four Months Have Passed

**AN: This is a SEQUEL to Universal Language. Please read that one first!**

* * *

 **Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 1: Four Months Have Passed...**

Mr. Jonathan Fazbear II, owner and operator of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria (a family restaurant he had inherited from his father) was debating whether he had been blessed with an eager, bright employee or cursed with a destructive force of nature that was out to confound and annoy him.

Roni Byrd, now twenty, was the pizzeria's full-time night security guard. She worked from nine o'clock at night until six in the morning, since accepting the full-time position a month ago. Before that she had been a part-time miracle for four months (having survived and befriended the Fazbear gang, the first one to do so since 1993), and a near-constant, questioning, suggesting thorn in his side.

Although she had granted him some keen insights – after coming in for lunch one day she'd seen the animatronics show, walked straight up to him and declared it 'boring' and 'lacking in imagination and interactivity.' He had admitted that the songs were old and pizza-themed, but pointed out that there wasn't much they could do about it, especially since money at the pizzeria was currently tight. The next night, Roni had arrived an hour early for her shift, cornered him in his office, and set down a large folder and stack of 'Kid's Bop' and 'Now' CDs – the kind that had all the current, popular songs on them that you bought off TV infomercials. She'd thoroughly researched the laws involving karaoke and copyright, scoured through hours of Youtube videos, and even drawn up a preliminary list of kid-friendly songs the children would love to sing along to.

The animatronics had hopped right on board when she introduced the idea to them. After much brainstorming, they decided that each child would get a little token when they came in, and they could use that token any time during the visit to choose a song, get up on stage, and sing it with the band. They could also use tickets won in the few arcade games in the back of the dining hall to buy as many tokens as they wanted (though to keep it fair, each token cost fifty tickets – more than most kids could earn in only one day). The singing would only happen in the afternoons during the weekday, but would be available most of the day between shows on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. After some hemming and hawing, Fazbear had agreed and a week later, they had implemented the karaoke idea.

It had exploded. News of the animatronics singing more 'modern' songs had spread like wildfire through the elementary grape vine, and Fazbear had ended up having to nearly double his wait staff to keep up with the sudden influx of customers. Of course, this had led to people worrying about their kids safety, which had also been solved by the red-headed imp.

Roni had shown him an episode of 'CSI: Miami' in which a girl was kidnapped at a play place. The play-place shut down, and when talking to the forensic people (the only one of whom he recognized was the redhead with the sunglasses) the employees explained they used hand stamps to identify which kids belonged to which adult. Roni had suggested using colored bracelets instead – the kind that were made of paper and plastic and were impossible to get off without scissors, a knife, or vampire-like incisors.

She'd been bouncing off the walls of his office that day, firing ideas at him. They would have four colors of bracelets – brown for Freddy, yellow for Chica, purple for Bonnie, and red for Foxy. Fazbear had immediately shot down the red – Foxy wasn't an active part of the show, and despite Roni's less-than-subtle hints he wouldn't be returning to it anytime soon. After a moment of pouting she'd continued, explaining that the families last name would be printed on the bracelets, making it nearly impossible for someone to leave with kids who weren't theirs. Fazbear had warmed up to the idea, deciding to install a 'registration counter' by the front door where families would have to check in and check out, with several security cameras around the area to keep track of every single person who entered and exited the restaurant. Neither of the two mentioned the not-so-unknown 'missing children' incident of nearly thirty years past, but both kept it on their mind as they planned the new safety measures.

They went off without a hitch, and the three computers at the registration counter often found their lines fluctuating, depending on who the popular animatronic was that day. The brown wrist-band line was almost always full, while the purple and yellow lines switched, depending on how many Bonnie and Chica fans were there. Roni bought the printer with the red bracelets herself and tucked it away for when her questions and suggestions finally wore away at Fazbear's patience enough to reintroduce Foxy to the customers.

So Roni was both a blessing and a curse, Fazbear decided as he watched the custodians clean up the dining hall. It was 8:45, the place had closed at eight (it was a Sunday, and they always closed early on Sundays), and most of the staff had left. The two custodians finished sweeping up from the days party, took their tools to the storage closet, and left, complaining about how messy the children were. The store owner sipped his tea and looked at his watch. 8:50. Ten more minutes until Roni would arrive.

As soon as they were alone in the building, the animatronics began to move. Bonnie nearly dropped his guitar as his tired arms were finally able to hang at his side.

"If we have to sing 'Let It Go' one more time," he groaned, setting his guitar in it's stand and slumping down dramatically in the middle of the stage, "I'm going to scream."

Beside him, Freddy adjusted his hat and bow tie, then patted Bonnie on the head. "It has to lose it's popularity eventually." He reassured the bunny.

"Roni warned us about this," Chica pointed out as she set her little cupcake down and stretched her tired wings over her head. "She said that we shouldn't add the song, but you," she pointed at Bonnie, "insisted since you like the movie so much."

"Like _d_. If I ever watched Frozen again I'm gonna hurl."

"Ye can't hurl, matey. Ye be a robot." Foxy had emerged, easily crossing the dining hall with large strides and plopping himself down on the side of the stage. "Are ye all as excited fer tonight as I am?"

"What's there to be excited about?" Fazbear asked as he sipped his tea, which had begun to cool thanks to his staring off into space and wool gathering.

"Did ye forget matey? Tonight be the night First Mate Roni got permission to bring her little brother aboard this ship!"

Fazbear wanted to smack himself in the face for forgetting that important fact. Roni had been talking about bringing her eight-year-old brother with her for weeks, having finally worn down her Grandmother enough to get permission. He settled for pinching the bridge of his nose instead.

"Two of them. I hope the restaurant is still standing in the morning."

Chica laughed at the mans sigh. "Oh she's not that bad, silly."

"No, no, I think dad is right to be worried." Bonnie had gotten to his feet and was staring at the front door, ears twitching as they awaited the tell-tale footsteps of their night guard. As usual, Fazbear rolled his eyes at the nickname but didn't interrupt the purple bunny. "Roni can be really hyper sometimes. Remember at Easter, when she brought in that huge chocolate bunny and munched on it all night?"

"Didn't you spend the rest of the night screaming 'cannibal' whenever you saw her?"

"That's beside the point. By three o'clock she was _literally_ bouncing off the walls!"

"Yes, because the janitors had just waxed the floors and she was running around in her socks." Freddy pointed out. He ignored Fazbear's raised brow and frown, focusing instead on the other three animatronics. "Look, Roni is a good guard, and obviously a good big sister. I'm sure tonight will go fine."

Any rebuttal the others might have had was cut off by the front door swinging open, allowing the night air to swirl in and mask the smell of stale pizza for a moment. Two figures stepped in – well, one stepped in, and the other shuffled behind her.

Roni was in front, all 5'3" of her. The short woman had recently turned twenty and despised the animatronics for their height, though she loved them for everything else. She was in her guard uniform – a purple button-up shirt, slacks, and a cap with a gold badge on the front declaring her 'security.' Her red hair was in a pixie cut, and there were several silver studs along her ears.

The shadow behind her was a foot shorter, and was peeking out under her arm with wide eyes the same color as his sister. His hair was a darker red and stuck out wildly, creating a permanent bed-head look. He was dressed in a purple t-shirt and jeans, and had a construction paper badge pinned to his chest. The word 'security' was written across it with a backwards 'y' at the end, scrawled in a shaky hand that hadn't yet developed all the right fine-motor skills. He had a backpack covered with pictures from the popular Transformers cartoons slung across his back.

The animatronics instantly recognized the boy – Donatello "Donnie" Byrd. After being hired and learning that employees got a free pizza once a week, Roni had begun bringing him and their grandmother to the restaurant every Friday for dinner. The little boy adored the animatronics, while his grandmother (a round woman with curly white hair that was impossible to impress with their songs) found them 'creepy' and 'unnecessary.' Both Roni and Donnie always ended up apologizing to the band before leaving, or Roni would apologize that night, for their grandmother's attitude. The animatronics always waved it off – she was not the first, nor would she be the last, to find them 'creepy.'

Now, Donnie was here and they would finally get a chance to formally meet him and, hopefully, become his friend. Roni had been telling them all week about how excited her brother was to come for the night shift. Now, however, he refused to move out from behind Roni, grabbing her shirt to keep her from walking farther into the room.

"Ah, Miss Byrd, it's lovely to see you." Fazbear finally broke the silence and, after motioning for the animatronics to stay put, strode across the room to greet the guard. "I see you brought help tonight!"

Roni nodded, smiling at the man. "Good evening Mr. Fazbear. Yes, my little brother wanted to come help me tonight." She grabbed her brothers shoulder and tried to pull him out from behind her, but it was a fruitless effort. He stayed glued to her side.

Fazbear chuckled and crouched in front of the boy, bringing them eye-to-eye. "You must be young mister Donatello, correct?" He asked, giving the child a small, comforting smile. "You know, the animatronics have been very eager to meet you."

"They have?" Donatello came out from his hiding spot a bit more, staring at the man in wonder.

"Oh yes," the older man nodded. "Bonnie has been talking about coloring with you, and Freddy wants to sing with you. Miss Chica there," he waved behind her, "Wants you to help her bake cupcakes, and," he slowed his voice down and leaned forward, whispering, "You get to meet the very best animatronic there is."

"I do?" The boys eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Yes. Foxy the Pirate came by tonight, just to say hello!"

"A _pirate_!?" The boy seized his sisters arm again, pulling on it hard. "You never told me there was a _pirate_ here!" He spun to face Fazbear. "Is he – is he a _real_ pirate? Like Jack Sparrow?"

"No," Fazbear shook his head, and watched as the boys face fell in disappointment. "He is far, _far_ braver and stronger and faster than that Mr. Jack Sparrow could ever hope to be! He's sailed all seven seas, and has fought off Black Beard, Blue Beard, _and_ Red Beard."

"I didn't know there was a Red Beard!"

"That's because Foxy the Pirate Fox is the only one who ever faced him and _lived_ to tell the tale!" Donnie was now staring up at the man, something akin to hero worship beginning to crowd his eyes. Fazbear obviously had him hook, line, and sinker. "Would you like to meet him."

Wordlessly, the boy nodded, automatically releasing his sister and taking Mr. Fazbear's hand. Roni groaned and rubbed her abused shoulder in relief as the man escorted her little brother across the room to the stage, where the animatronics were watching with amused expressions. After making sure her arm was still connected, she followed.

Foxy was now standing by the stage, and was it her imagination or was his tail _wagging_? He had his hands on his hips and watched as the man and boy approached him.

"Captain Foxy," Fazbear stopped a few feet away from the animatronic, his hand moving to Donnie's shoulder, "I would like to introduce you to someone very special. This is Donnie."

"Is it now?" Foxy's maw split into a grin, showing off his sharp teeth, as his eye patch flipped up and he peered at the young boy. "Ye look like a strapping young lad! Tell me, what are ye doing here this late a' night?"

Donnie took a deep breath and puffed out his chest, making sure his security 'badge' was on straight. "I'm a security guard tonight, Captain Foxy!" He explained.

"A security guard, eh?" Foxy tapped his hook against his chin. "We already be havin' one o' those matey, I don't think we be needin' another one." Donnie's face fell, and behind him Roni looked ready to throw down with the animatronic until he cried uncle. "Ye know what I do be needin', though?" The fox crouched down and placed his non-hook hand on the boy shoulder. "I be needin' a first mate! Would ye be interested in the job?"

Joy rekindled, the boy could only stare at Foxy and nod his head up and down as though his neck had become a spring. A look of relief cross both Fazbear's and Roni's faces (both had been gearing up for an ass kicking for a certain tricky fox).

"I be needin' an 'aye' there, lad!"

"Aye, captain!" Donnie released Fazbear's hand and grabbed Foxy's instead. The pirate immediately swept his new matey off towards Pirate's Cove, already answering questions and regaling the boy with stories of his travels. As soon as the two were behind the purple curtains, out of sight and ear shot, Roni released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She flopped down on the stage beside Bonnie, who had sat back down and was pouting about his sore arms and having 'Let It Go' stuck in his processor.

"Thank you, Mr. Fazbear. I don't know why he got so 'shy' all of a sudden. It's not like him."

"To be fair, it is a bit dark in here, and the animatronics can cut an intimidating figure to those who don't know them." Fazbear patted her knee. "I think Foxy will take good care of him for the time being."

All five looked towards Pirate's Cove, where laughter could already be heard, as well as the sound of wood thwacking against wood and fabric flapping. Freddy shared a smile with his band mates – it had been a long time since they'd heard the fox laugh in such a carefree manner.

"I should get going, before my wife starts to worry." Fazbear drained the rest of his tea and threw the paper cup in the trash bin nearest the stage. "Oh, Miss Byrd, I did want to show you this." He pulled a newspaper clipping from his breast pocket. Roni sat up and took it, face lighting up as she read it.

"Old Restaurant Given New Life By Innovative Ideas and Precautions." She read aloud as the animatronics gathered around. "Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria has slowly been losing money over the past few years due to a stagnant ritual and old animatronics, which have been far outstripped by today's technology." Freddy and Chica growled, while Bonnie's ears drooped. "The restaurant has been given a second chance, however, thanks to the introduction of new safety measures and activities."

"Parents now have to register at a front counter when entering the restaurant, and families are given color-coded wristbands with their names printed on them to help prevent child abductions. Camera's have also been added around the only entrance in or out, providing twenty-four hour security footage in case the unimaginable does happen. The front counter is wired directly into a police facial recognition database, and the footage will recognize sex offenders and violent criminals and the floor manager will be notified if they are present. The police will also be called automatically. These safety measures have put parent's minds at ease, and have increased patronage at the restaurant ten-fold."

"Also new is the animatronics routine. A karaoke system has been set up with all the latest and greatest songs available. Each child receives a token when they arrive and can use it to sing a song with the famous Fazbear Band. More tokens can be bought by winning tickets at the arcade games. Mr. Jonathan Fazbear II, owner and operator of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, says that this has brought more life to his restaurant than he ever imagined.

"It's incredible," he stated in an interview. "I never imagined that the place could be this full of life – I was really worried we were going to have to shut down at the end of the year, but thanks to these new systems we've earned enough to keep the restaurant open for at least a decade, if not more! The customers are happier too – the parents feel safer, and the children love being able to sing with their favorite band."

"When asked if he planned to reinstate the 'free-roam' program that made the restaurant unique in the 1980's. The free-roam program enabled the animatronics to walk around the restaurant and interact with the customers. It was scrapped after an unfortunate even in 1987 when a security guard was attacked due to a badly malfunctioning animatronic. Fazbear said he hadn't thought of it. "We'll have to hire some engineers first, to make sure the animatronics are in perfect condition and completely safe. I never want anyone here are Freddy's to be injured or afraid."

"This reporter, who has two young children of her own, is personally amazed at the changes Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has made. It is a place I went as a child, and it is a place my children love. These added safety measures and entertainment make it all the more worthwhile. As one parent to another, I encourage you to check it out this weekend!"

Roni finished the article and examined the pictures that accompanied it. One was a small shot of the outside of the building. Underneath it was a much larger picture of the three animatronics singing, with a young child with a bright-blue microphone singing along beside them, looking as though all his wildest dreams had come true. She laughed at the picture and passed the paper to the animatronics, who peered at it in delight.

Fazbear had retrieved his briefcase while she was reading and now stood ready to go, waiting only for her reaction.

"This is awesome," she pointed at the article. "Is this why it's been so insanely busy this weekend? That's from Friday's paper, right? I didn't see it in yesterdays or today's, but I missed Friday's."

"Yes, it's from Friday's paper." He nodded, loosening his tie as he inched towards the door, exhausted and ready to sleep. "I'm glad you approve. The lady who interviewed me wanted to talk to you, too, about how you came up with your ideas for the karaoke and security system."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. We'll set it up later. For now, get to work." He winked, then was out the door and in his car, eager to get home, kiss his wife, and rest his aching bones for a few hours.

Once he'd peeled out of the parking lot, Roni looked at the other three. "We should put that article up on the bulletin board near the bathrooms. A little good press can go a _long_ way."

Freddy nodded and left to go do so, walking slowly so he could re-read the article again and again as he went. Roni was certain the smile on his face wouldn't be going anywhere for the rest of the night.

There was a crash from Pirate's Cove, a loud laugh, and then the sound of wood thwacking plastic. The guard rolled her eyes and stood up.

"C'mon guys, we'd better go rescue Foxy from my little brother."

* * *

Foxy was having the time of his life, even if he didn't think that Donnie was quite playing fair. They'd started a sword fight with wooden swords soon after arriving in his cove. A few minutes into the fight, the lad had thrown up his hands and cried 'wait!' before going to his backpack, which he'd dropped by the curtains. He had put down the sword and pulled out a short black and silver stick, then squared off against the fox once more. With a flick of his wrist, a plastic tube cut into sections slid out and lit up with a green light, flashing every time he knocked it against something. With an 'okay, go!' he'd attacked Foxy once more with the odd sword.

"Donnie!" Ah, the others had arrived. Freddy had pulled back the cove's curtains, revealing the three confused animatronics and one upset big sister. She climbed up onto the stage, scowling, as Donnie lowered his flashing sword in confusion. "Really, I thought I taught you better than that!" The guard stomped over to his backpack, which was closer to Foxy now, and pulled out an identical black handle. With a flick of the wrist, it extended into a red flashing sword. "Really, play fair now." She winked at Foxy and handed it over, taking his wood sword away.

"Lass, what be this?" He asked, examining the plastic closely as it flashed.

"It's a light saber!" Donnie chirped. "Don't you know what a light saber is?"

"They haven't seen the Star Wars movies yet, Donnie."

The boys jaw dropped, and he looked at the animatronics incredulously. "You _haven't_? What has my sister been teaching you?"

"Hey, I'm a great teacher!" Roni put her hands on her hips and glared at the boy.

"No you're not! You're a terrible teacher! Honestly, not showing them Star Wars yet. You've worked here five months!"

Roni turned back to the fox. "Captain, may I borrow that?" She asked sweetly. Without waiting for a reply, she dropped the wood sword, grabbed the light saber, and charged at her brother. Donnie immediately took off around the Pirate's Cove stage, screeching in laughter as he did so. "Get back here you little brat! I'll keel-haul ya! I'll make ya walk the plank! Donnie, I _am_ your sister!"

Foxy stepped off the stage to join his friends, all of whom were watching the siblings with varying smiles of contentment and amusement. After Roni thwacked Donnie on the head, and her brother retaliated by hitting her several times on the shoulder, Bonnie sighed.

"I told you," he muttered, "dad was right to be worried."

* * *

 **AN:** And so begins Roni's second adventure with the animatronics! Bonnie is right to be worried, though not for the reasons he thinks...

Please review so I can know what y'all think! Thanks!


	2. War Declared

**Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 2: War Declared**

By 9:45, the two Byrds' had declared war on each other and each had enlisted the animatronics help. Donnie, of course, joined forces with Foxy. A groaning Bonnie had been dragged into the cove, where he'd been outfitted with a black bandanna and a peg leg (which he'd thrown at the guffawing fox before picking up a wooden sword instead). Roni, meanwhile, led both Freddy and Chica into the kitchen and outfitted all three of them with pots for helmets and various weapons – Freddy now wielded a spatula, Chica had a whisk, and the guard herself had an ladle.

"Do you two do this often?" Freddy asked, adjusting the soup pot set between his ears. Thanks to the magnets in the top of his costume head that kept his hat (also ringed with magnets) attached, the pot was not in danger of falling off.

"All the time!" Roni adjusted the saucepan so the handle pointed back, out of her eyes, and put her hands on her hips. "My Gran's home is a tiny farmhouse, but it has a _huge_ backyard, and it goes right up to some woods that go on for acres. We split up the backyard and woods, then have stick fights or use pine-cone 'bombs to 'battle' for territory. We've gotten lost a few times – it drives Gran nuts 'cause then she has to call the cops out to help find us."

"It must drive your parents nuts, too!" Chica laughed, exchanging her pot for a pasta strainer, which fit more nicely over her round head. When Roni didn't answer, she looked up and saw the guard giving her an odd, confused smile, while Freddy was pinching the bridge of his muzzle in annoyance. "What?"

"Chica, my parents are dead." Roni remarked softly, shaking her head. "I thought you all knew!"

The chickens feathers fluffed up in embarrassment. "Oh, oh, I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't-"

"It's okay," Roni patted her arm, "it happened a long time ago. They died in a car accident over..." she paused, quickly subtracting years, "seven years ago now."

"But Donnie's eight-"

"Yeah, he was a year old when they died. He was in the car with them, too. He's got a bad scar on his scalp, but it's only visible when he shaves his head, and you saw his hair! He _never_ shaves his head." The smile on her face when from wistful to mischievous. "I shaved his head last year for April Fools Day, while he was asleep. He didn't speak to me for nearly a month!"

Chica still looked repentant, so Roni gave in and hugged the chicken. "It's not a big deal, Chica. Yeah, it still makes me sad and I miss them, but it's okay to talk about it."

Freddy coughed into his hand, catching the girls attention. "Forgive me, Roni, but we've been told to avoid talking about death around the kids. We're not used to the topic."

"Well that's dumb." Roni snorted. "One night I'll give you guys some advice on grief counseling for kids – trust me, I would have been over the moon if I'd been able to talk to one of my idols about it when I was thirteen." The guard thwacked the egg beater against her palm, a feral smile taking over her wrinkled nose and frown. "For now, however, we need to face the enemy and retake the pizzeria!" She pointed dramatically at the kitchen door, which did absolutely nothing in response.

* * *

Donnie was jumping from foot to foot, a wooden sword clutched in one hand, a plastic cutlass in the other. He had an eye patch pressed against one eye, the elastic cord going around a red and white bandanna. Bonnie was sitting behind him, a smirk on his face as he watched the boy leap about in excitement. It hadn't taken long for the smart little boy to figure out they weren't just robots, but were actually sentient. The implications of that had distracted him for all of three seconds before he'd pulled a pine-cone out of his backpack, thrown it at his sisters head, and declared 'war!'. His sister had huffed and declared war right back, dragging Chica and Freddy with her into the kitchen.

Foxy had disappeared behind the wooden ships bow that protruded from the back wall of his stage, going through a little wood door that used to lead to a small resting room for younger children when they needed a break from the noise. He rarely went in there – originally, Toy Vixen (who eventually became known as the Mangle) was supposed to work with Foxy in the toddler area. Foxy would run around and entertain, while Vixen would handle the calmer children in her own little pillow-filled space, reading them books and singing songs with her parrot puppet. In the end, Foxy had been scrapped, and Vixen had been unable to handle the rambunctious toddlers and had become the Mangle. When this store had been remodeled, they'd made the ship with the resting area, but Foxy had never been given the chance to use it. Now, he and the other animatronics used the boat for their own personal storage.

The vulpine shook his head, ears flicking, and pulled his plastic treasure chest from where he'd tucked it in the narrow bow of the ship. He opened it, revealing a stash of props left over from when he could perform. Grinning from ear to ear, he unearthed his old costume, put it on, and climbed a short ladder to a hatch, which opened to the top of the bow. Cackling, he leapt onto the tip of the ship, peering down at his 'crew.'

Donnie and Bonnie were both in awe, forgetting for the moment that the animatronic was in disrepair and in need of fixing. Foxy had put on a puffy white shirt, which covered the hole in his chest. A belt hung at a jaunty angle around his waist, a holster holding a plastic revolver that shot ping-pong balls, as well as a long, shiny cutlass. On top of the shirt and belt was a resplendent coat, made of soft black cloth and trimmed in gold and red. A large, matching hat sat between his ears (held in place by handy-dandy magnets), made of black felt with a pair of gold and red feather plumes arching back from the brim. He threw his head back and cackled again, before leaping down to land neatly before the pair.

"Bonnie," Donnie grabbed the bunnies arm as said bunny stood up, shaking it eagerly. "I think we're gonna win!"

* * *

Roni had 'borrowed' several sponges from the kitchen and had distributed them between the three, declaring that they were 'bombs' and that if they hit anybody, that person couldn't move for a whole minute. Freddy had pointed out that it was a bit of a violent and inappropriate game. Roni had countered, telling him to think of them as 'tag balls' instead of 'bombs' and had then marched out of the kitchen, crowing for them to follow her to glorious battle.

The trio had been ambushed by pine-cones the second they stepped foot in the dining hall. A cackling Foxy, dressed like a true pirate, had led his crew in pelting them. Roni had groaned but had stayed put, as the 'rules' of the game required.

"We declare the dining hall to be the property of Captain Foxy and his crew!" Donnie had yelled, dancing from one foot to another. Foxy and Bonnie had both pelted them with more pine-cones before dashing back to the cove to restock. As soon as the minute was up, Roni grabbed the sponges she'd dropped and ordered the others to follow her around the hall to the security office, where they could plan their counter attack.

* * *

By eleven, both teams had thoroughly exhausted their 'bomb' supplies, had witnessed a truly amazing duel between Foxy and Freddy, and Donnie had scraped one knee and Roni was nursing a bruised elbow. Donnie had finally declared the war over (and he and his team the winners) when he got to hungry to continue. He and Roni shook hands (and made the animatronics shake hands with each other as well) then collapsed on the stage. Chica began listing all the different pizzas she knew how to make, while Bonnie sat down with his guitar and began to tune it. Foxy declared himself to be 'sweltering' and left to put away his costume in the cove. After a moments rest, Roni sat up.

"I've got to get the tablet from the office." She explained when her brother gave her a curious look. "I'll be back in a minute. Stay here, and behave."

Donnie pouted. "I always behave!" When she'd gotten across the dining room and to the hallway, he stuck his tongue out at her back.

"I saw that!"

The boy hunched down, bringing his shoulders up around her ears, nose wrinkled. "How does she do that?"

"She's the security guard," Freddy sat down beside the boy, "It's her job to know everything that goes on in this place."

The boy laughed and leaned against the bear. "Thanks for playing with me Freddy."

Freddy wrapped an arm around the boy and gave him a hug. "Of course, Donnie. We're all very happy to have you here, visiting us. Maybe your grandmother will let you visit again."

"It'll be hard, once school starts." Donnie pointed out. "I'm going to be in _third_ grade, after all!"

"Wow!" Freddy acted suitably impressed. "That's going to be hard work. Well, hopefully if you do well and get good grades, your grandmother will let you come visit as a treat."

"Yeah!" Donnie brightened. There was a clunk from the direction of Pirates Cove, followed by a salty swear that made the child giggle. Freddy rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you should go help Foxy get his costume put away. Sometimes," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "his hook gets stuck in his coat!"

The boy nodded and giggled. He was nearly to the cove when Roni reappeared at the end of the hall, though to all of the animatronics surprise, she wasn't alone.

* * *

Having the muzzle of a gun pressed against your temple was, unsurprisingly, rather uncomfortable. Roni stood stiffly at the end of the east hall, eyes traveling over the three animatronics on stage. She spotted Donnie on his way to the cove. He had stopped when he heard her footsteps and turned to look at her. It didn't taken long for the boy to figure out what was going on, and beneath his freckles he went pale.

"Donnie," Roni swallowed hard as the large man behind her – the tallest of the four men – dug the tip of the gun against her temple. "Donnie, go to the cove and stay with Foxy. Don't come out, no matter what, okay?" Her eyes met his, green meeting green. "No matter what you hear, you stay with Foxy, okay?"

The boy didn't respond, just stared, and the tall man sneered at him , wrapped his arm around Roni's throat and angled the gun against her forehead, making it appear all the more threatening. "You heard her, brat. Move it." Tall Man motioned his head towards the cove. "Go be a good little boy."

"It's okay Don," Roni said quietly. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

The boy nodded and, very slowly, closed the short distance to the cove, never taking his eyes off Tall Man. He paused when he reached the curtains, but at an encouraging nod from his sister he ducked inside.

"Now," Tall Man turned his eyes to the three animatronics on the stage, all of whom were standing stock still in shock, "We need to take care of these monsters."

"They're not monsters!" Roni snapped. The man to her left – a slightly shorter and rounder man with a squashed nose and beady eyes – sneered and pulled something black out of his pocket. Ugly (as she decided to call him) pressed his fingers and thumb against both sides, which sent a jolt of electricity arcing between two prongs sticking out of the top. "NO!"

The butt of the gun smacked against the top of her head, hard enough to have her seeing stars. "Shut up, bitch."

"Please," Roni shut her eyes tightly, trying to shake off the sudden dizzy feeling. "Don't hurt them. I'll – I'll tell them to go to the back room. They won't hurt you. _Please_."

Tall Man actually looked like he was considering it – he'd glanced towards one of the other men for an answer. Unfortunately, they waited just long enough for Donnie to finish explaining what was happening to Foxy. The curtains to Pirate Cove were ripped apart with an unearthly shriek and the captain bound out with death in his eyes. Roni was shoved to the side as Tall Man pointed his gun towards the fox. Roni grabbed his arm, jerking it so it pointed at the floor instead of the Cove. "No! You'll hit Donnie!" The gun went off, burying a bullet in the tile instead of the fox. The muzzle hit Roni's cheek, and there was a sizzle as the hot metal left a burn along the side of her face. Before he could aim his gun once more, Foxy was upon them.

Ugly still had his taser in hand. He slammed it into the hole in Foxy's chest, connecting directly with the metal. The fox let out another screech, his body jerking in unnatural ways as electricity raced all along his endoskeleton. From the floor, Roni yelled in horror as the animatronics systems overloaded, and he collapsed into a twitching pile on the floor. Freddy, who had begun to move with the others when Foxy had emerged, stopped cold and held out his arms, stopping Bonnie and Chica from running to Foxy's side.

"You." Tall Man shoved his steel-toed boot into Roni's hip. Roni stayed kneeling on the floor, staring at Foxy's twitching form as the man pushed the gun against the back of her head. "Tell them to stop moving."

Roni swallowed hard and looked up at the three. "Freddy, Chica, Bonnie. Go to the backstage room and stay there, no matter what."

"Tell them to take that heap of junk with them." Ugly demanded, the taser still sparking in his hand. Roni was dragged upright by the back of her shirt, the gun still in place. "If they try anything, you die."

Freddy held up his hands in as non-threatening a manner as possible and approached them. The guard was dragged backwards as all four of the men stepped back into the hall. The bear grabbed Foxy's twitching arm (wincing as a bit of electricity leapt between the fox and himself) and dragged him upright. Bonnie moved forward a bit faster and helped Freddy support the twitching pirate. Both gave Roni a worried look but she gave them a confident half-smile, which she hoped was reassuring.

At the cove, where the curtains still hung wide, Donnie was watching the animatronics with large, frightened eyes. Roni took a deep breath and turned her face towards him. "Donnie, go with them into the backroom, okay? Stay with Foxy and the others. You'll be safe there."

"Who do you think you are, giving orders?" Ugly sneered beneath his squashed nose.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him." Roni snarled. "You said as long as I cooperated my brother would be safe."

Ugly opened his mouth to respond, but the third of the group squeezed his shoulder, silencing him. "Now, we did say that. If she wants to let her brother sit with those monsters in a locked room all night, then let that be her cross to bear." This man was much more well spoken than the others. Instead of wearing black jeans and a black shirt like the others, he was dressed in tailored pants and a navy dress shirt. He was older, with short salt-and-pepper hair and a bristly mustache. Roni had instantly pegged him as the head of this 'operation' and was intent on keeping him from getting angry, even if that meant locking away her best hope at rescue for the rest of the night.

The five watched as Bonnie and Freddy dragged Foxy up onto the stage. Chica caught Donnie's eyes and motioned for him to come over to her. After giving Roni a worried glance, he ran across the room and into the chickens arms. She nodded to Roni, a silent promise to protect the boy, and led him after the others and into the backroom. Salt-And-Pepper swung the keys he had taken from Roni around his finger and led the way into the dining hall. Roni was shoved along with them, up until they reached the stage. Salt-And-Pepper sneered at the still-open door to the backstage room.

"Shut it," he ordered Freddy, who was standing at the doorway, glaring at the men. Behind the leader, Roni nodded her head quickly, mouthing the same words at Salt-And-Pepper. _Shut it_. She knew the man was going to lock it, but that was okay – as long as Donnie and her friends were safe, it was all going to be okay, even if she ended up haunting this place herself.

Grudgingly, the bear shut the door. Salt-and-Pepper handed the keys over to the last member of their group – a quiet, short man (though still a few inches taller than Roni) with lots of stubble on his face and a cigarette in his lips. When the four had nabbed her in the security office (they'd snuck in through the backdoor near the office and waited to grab her) the first stupid thing that had fallen from her lips had been 'there's no smoking in the building, sir.' They'd all laughed at her, and the man, Smoker, had snubbed the cigarette but kept it, unlit, in his mouth. Now, he shuffled across the stage and locked the door. The tumblers fell into place with a clang that sounded much louder to Roni's ears than the others. Smoker shuffled back and handed the keys to Salt-And-Pepper, all while rolling his cigarette between his teeth.

"Now," Salt-And-Pepper turned his smile on the young woman in the midst of his henchmen, "What to do with you. Really, Ace, put the gun away now. We don't want to hurt her." He purred, reaching out to grab Roni's chin and forcing her to face him. "Now, where is the safe."

"I told you before, I don't know. I don't have _anything_ to do with the money."

Salt-and-Pepper's smile turned into a sneer. "Oh? A security guard doesn't who doesn't know what she's guarding?" He leaned in so that she could smell his minty-fresh breath. His eyes, a hard, flint gray, searched her own defiant green ones. After a moment he leaned back with a laugh. "Hah! She's telling the truth. Old Fazfuck hasn't told her where he keeps the safe." He crossed his arms and shook his head, heaving a heavy sigh. "Well I guess you're worthless to us, then."

"What should we do with her, sir?" Ace (though she doubted that was his real name) asked. "Throw her back in with the monsters?"

Salt-and-Pepper shook his head. "No. We give her to them, we lose our leverage. They'll flatten that door, locked or not, to get to us." He scratched his mustache. "Sid, you saw the plans for the place, right? Isn't there a basement here?"

Roni swallowed hard at that. She knew there was a basement – it was huge, as big as the building above it. There was even a room under part of the parking lot. After the 'Golden Freddy Debacle', as they had named it, some pieces of furniture had been brought up from the huge, dark room. It actually served as a storage space, mostly, for things left over from the last restaurant. It was all concrete – concrete floors and stone walls, lined with shelves stuffed with cardboard boxes and steel bits and bobs. There was one huge room at the bottom of the stairs (which were located near Foxy's cove), and a few other small rooms along the far end from where the basement was originally intended to be a laser-tag course. Those rooms had been locked for ages, though, and Roni didn't know what lurked behind them.

While she was reviewing what she knew of the basement, Sid pointed to the small, unassuming door by the cove. "Toss her down there," Salt-and-Pepper said with a casual wave of his hand. "Lock the door behind her. She won't cause us any more trouble tonight."

Ace chuckled and grabbed Roni by the arms, dragging her to the basement. The girl took a deep breath and bit her lip as she was pulled farther and farther away from the others. The man unlocked the door with the key he'd taken from Salt-and-Pepper and threw it open. At the top of the steps was a platform. The stairs went down to the left, parallel to the building. Otherwise, they would have gone right out into the parking lot. Ace dragged Roni onto the platform and looked at the bottom of the stairs – there was nothing but darkness. Chuckling, he shifted his grip.

"The boss did say to _toss_ you down the stairs." She barely had a moment to comprehend what he meant before she was airborne, having been picked up and literally _thrown_ down the stairs. The guard bounced a few times before hitting the bottom, landing on something – a discarded cardboard box or ripped tablecloth – that lay at the bottom. She didn't move, her head spinning, cheek burning, limbs aching and bruised. The door at the top of the steps slammed and the lock fell into place with an audible click.

Roni shut her eyes against the darkness that flooded her senses. Of the few things she feared, why did the _dark_ have to be one of them?

* * *

Donnie was inconsolable. He sat in Chica's lap, head buried against her feathery chest, crying softly into her bib. The four could tell he was trying _not_ to act upset, trying to act strong, but for the little eight year old this sudden and dangerous turn of events was a a bit too much. Foxy had mostly recovered from the taser – he was still twitching at random intervals as the extra electricity worked its way out of his system, but he could sit up and move now, at least.

Freddy had taken off his hat and was tugging on the edges, bending the brim out of shape, as he paced around the small room in an effort to come up with a solution to this problem. Bonnie was watching him as he sat beside Chica, patting Donnie's back as Chica gently rocked him. Foxy sat on Chica's other side, wary of touching the boy because of the electricity, but wanting to be nearby anyway.

A large sniffle heralded Donnie running out of tears. "I-I-Is Roni gonna b-be o-okay?" He asked, wiping snot from his face on the back of his hand. Chica clucked and took off her bib, using it to wipe his face and arm off. Without being asked, Freddy went to the stack of boxes of their extra parts on the other side of the room and rummaged through them for a new bib for her.

"Roni's going to be fine, love." Chica took the fresh bib Freddy handed her and tied it around her neck. "Your sister is incredibly brave, you know. She can easily handle those...those thugs."

Freddy sat in front of the trio, reaching out to rest a hand on the head of wild red hair. "Everything will be fine, Donnie." He reassured the boy in his deep, comforting voice, a hint of south in the lilt.

"Promise?" The boys bottom lip was trembling, but he'd stopped crying and though he sounded stuffed up, he was breathing normally now.

The bear smiled, took off his hat and placed it above where his heart would be, did he have one. "Yes, Donnie. I promise, all of us are going to make it out of this safe and sound."

* * *

Deep in the bowels of the basement, the slamming of the door echoed around the concrete and stone, awakening things that had been asleep for nearly thirty years...

* * *

 **AN:** Yay! Once I started I could not stop writing. I had a ton of fun with the play 'war' scene. Not all my updates will be this fast, but I've been super excited to write this story, so who knows when chapter 3 will be up.

 **PLEASE REVIEW** so I can know what I'm doing well and what needs improving! Critiques are always welcome.


	3. Midnight Strikes

**Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 3: Midnight Strikes**

Roni lay where she had landed, slowly regaining her senses after the fall down the basement stairs. It felt as though her ears were full of cotton and bees – there was a faint buzzing, and any noise was coming through muffled. Even the sound of her own thundering heart-beat sounded odd and distant.

She kept her eyes shut tightly against the encroaching darkness, wishing desperately that she had put on her belt when she'd gone to the office earlier in the night. She had no flashlight, no cell phone (those thugs had taken it to ensure she didn't call the police), and no baton to protect herself with. Ever since that whole debacle with Golden Freddy, she'd been terrified of being in absolute darkness without a light source available. When the restaurant started doing better, she'd asked Mr. Fazbear if he could take off the limit on power at night. He'd agreed, and she'd been able to stop jumping at shadows around the hallways and sudden noises from the backroom. The basement, however, had old fluorescent lighting that was rather dim at the best of times, and she had no idea how to turn it on. She'd only ever been down here once, and that was with Freddy to find some extra tablecloths a few months ago.

There was silence upstairs now – the basement door was pretty heavy, and blocked most of the noise. Roni slowly opened her eyes, which had begun to adjust to the darkness. She couldn't see much past her nose, but it was better than nothing. For the moment, nothing in the basement was moving.

That moment quickly passed as the stack of cardboard boxes beneath her moved. Roni, who had been laying limply across what she had thought to be a pile of junk thrown down the steps by lazy custodians, pushed herself upright. Beneath her hands was a firm, rounded surface covered in a very thin layer of felt. The guard had barely registered the familiar feeling of it before the thing sat up, sending her tumbling to the concrete floor. Luckily she managed to catch herself this time. Barely breathing, she looked up at the shifting shadow.

White pin-prick eyes peered down at her. Those eyes _those eyes she knew those eyes those eyes had almost killed her!_ Roni scrambled away from the form and bumped against one of the stone walls. Her hands met a stack of wood – chair and table pieces left over from when she'd met this shadow four months ago. She tightened her grip around a long chair leg and pushed herself up, leaning against the wall to stay steady. The pair of eyes had moved higher – the shadow had stood up. Was it her imagination or were the white pupils getting bigger? It began to move towards her, and the guard adjusted the wood so she was holding it like a baseball bat.

"NOT THIS TIME MOTHER FUCKER!" Grateful that her grandmother wasn't anywhere nearby to hear her, Roni swung the impromptu weapon at the shadows eyes. It connected, splintering the wood and sending the shadows head snapping to the side. The white pupils contracted once more as the shadow moved back, almost drunkenly. She dropped the broken chair leg and took off along the wall. Unfortunately, she still couldn't see beyond her nose, and ran straight into the ceiling-high shelves that ran along the wall holding relics of the older restaurants. Swearing once more, she trailed her fingers along the shelving as she ran, intent on finding a place to hide from the nightmarish monster behind her.

* * *

The midnight chimes rang somberly among the quiet restaurant, interrupting the tense silence in the backroom. Donnie was sitting on Foxy's lap, tears spent, quietly staring at the empty heads that lined the shelves. The pirate was keeping a close eye on him, his ears lowered in sorrow at the idea of his little first mate being sad. Chica was organizing the small boxes of spare bits and bobs – screws, nuts, bolts, and other items their endoskeletons needed – that were kept in plastic boxes on one of the shelves. Bonnie had his spare guitar out and was trying to tune it – he hadn't needed it in years, and some of the pegs were a bit rusty since it hadn't been stored properly. Freddy was pacing in a very slow loop around the room, glancing at the others every once in a while to assess their mood. They'd all heard Roni being shoved into the basement, though none of them were worried. There was nothing down there that could harm her. Hopefully, she'd just end up being bored until six in the morning, when Mr. Fazbear would arrive and call the police.

"Foxy?" Donnie's voice broke through the quiet room. The boy sniffled and leaned against the pirates chest, playing with the light-red fur anxiously.

"Yes, m'lad?" Foxy ran his non-hook hand through the boys hair, noting that the strands were almost the same shade of red as his own coat.

"Will you tell me a story?" The boy's voice sounded so quiet and tiny in the room. All four animatronics felt their oil pumps (the closest thing they had to a human heart) stop and stutter at the forlorn tone.

"Of course, me matey." The fox hugged the boy close. Chica came and sat down beside him, Bonnie scooted closer with his guitar in his lap, and Freddy stopped pacing and instead leaned against the wall by the door, intent on protecting his family from any of the thugs, should they dare to try and come in. Keeping his arms around the boy, Foxy began his favorite tale.

"There I was, sailing on the Salty Sea Fox, the greatest ship e're known to man and animatronic kind, when I saw a ship as black as night following me through the waves. I called for my first mate Donnie to grab the telescope..."

* * *

Roni had found a door. She knew there were a few room that branched off from the large main section of the basement, but all of them were supposed to be locked up for one reason or another. This one, however, wasn't. She jiggled the stiff handle and the wood obediently swung open. This room was just as dark as the main room, but she didn't care. If she could prop the door closed, she could hide from Golden down here for the rest of the night. Hearing a shuffling of footsteps behind her, Roni darted in, closed the door and took a step into the room.

As was becoming the norm for the night, Roni ended up falling flat on her face once more. Her foot had caught on something and sent her tumbling – again – to meet the concrete. She groaned a pitiful sounding 'fuck me' and rubbed her left wrist. It tended to get sore when she put too much weight on it – after having reconstructive surgery that included several metal pins and a two-month stint in a cast, it wasn't up to much abuse. When the gold-hued monster didn't burst through the door after her, and instead shuffled past it (judging from his footsteps) Roni decided she could lay on the ground for a few minutes and rest. With a sigh, she curled up on her side, cushioning her pounding head on her arms and pulling her knees up to her chest, and wondered what Donnie and the others were doing right now.

A few minutes into her impromptu doze, cold metal fingers curled around her ankle in a tight grip. She jolted back to reality, her free leg immediately kicking out and landing a hit on something rubbery. They thing that had grabbed her let go with a muffled yell.

"Oooooooww!" The thing whined as the guard scrambled away from it, once more dragging herself backwards until she hit a wall. In this case, a wall of cardboard boxes. She stayed there, eyes trying to pick out the shadow she had hit through the darkness. To her surprise, a pair of bright green eyes blinked open and looked at her, barely illuminating rosy-red cheeks and light blue eye sockets. It had long blue fingers clutched over it's nose, which was where her foot had apparently made contact.

Green met green, and Roni audibly gulped as the thing – an animatronic – stood and glared down at her. She pressed herself against the boxes, pulling her knees up to her chest and cringing as the animatronic stomped over. It stopped a few feet away and leaned over her. The guard threw her arms above her head, certain that it would either kill her itself or call Gold in to do it.

"What in the world is wrong with ya, kid?" The animatronic demanded in confusion. His voice was odd – obviously male, but with a lilting quality to it that made it higher than Freddy, Bonnie, or Foxy's voices. Roni pulled farther into herself as it spoke, eyes shut tight against whatever pain was coming. "Kid?" The voice was softer now, almost... _worried_? Cold finger tips brushed the back of her hands, which were tangled in her short hair, protecting her skull from anymore damage. "What are you doin' down here anyway? The basement is supposed to be locked. A little kid like you shouldn't be wandering 'round in the dark."

The fingers left, and there was a 'thump' as the animatronic got down on one knee in front of her. His voice was more cajoling and friendlier. "C'mon, little boy, there's no need to be afraid of me. Oh!" He snapped his fingers, the metal-on-metal contact creating a spark between them that lit up the space for a hundredth of a second. "I know, you probably don't like the dark, right? Humans have a hard time seeing in the dark." Roni, who was squinting through her lashes now and was seriously considering growing her hair out so people would stop mistaking her for a boy, watched with growing horror as the green eyes faded to black, white pinpricks the only thing remaining. Before she could scream or lash out, the florescent light above them flickered to life, and the green irises returned.

The animatronic was a bunny, much like Bonnie, though perhaps a bit shorter. He was blue instead of purple, with a white underbelly and muzzle. His eyes were bright green and lined with lashes, and there was a spot of red on each cheek. He had a bright red bow tie made out of shiny material hanging crookedly around his neck. Unlike the Bonnie she knew, he had buck teeth and dark, thick eyebrows. He appeared to be shinier than the other animatronics Roni knew – though there was a fine layer of fuzz over him. Soft to the touch, but shiny when looked at. What an odd combination.

The bunny was smiling expectantly at her. Slowly, the girl lowered her arms, keeping her eyes on him at all times. His ears drooped slightly when he took in her heart-shaped face and long lashes. "Oh dear, I'm sorry darling, I didn't realize you were a girl!" His look of embarrassment didn't last, however. His eyes narrowed, and before Roni could jerk her head back he had her chin in his hand. He leaned forward, and there was black bleeding into the whites of his eyes. Instinctively, she wrapped her hands around his wrist, trying to pull her face from his grasp.

The blue Bonnie saw the panic in her eyes and relaxed his hold, though he still kept her chin in his grasp. He blinked, and the darkness in his eyes disappeared. Instead, there was only worry. "You're hurt." His thumb ghosted over her cheek, where there was a long burn from the hot muzzle Tall Man had hit her with.

"I'm fine," she said automatically, yanking her head out of his grasp and releasing his wrist. He frowned, but dropped his hand.

"Your nose is bleeding too, sweetheart."

"What?" Roni reached up and felt a layer of crusted blood on her upper lip and chin, as well as fresher blood near her nostrils. She resisted the urge to sniff and instead looked down at her uniform, which was sprinkled with blood drops. One of her sleeves was ripped as well, and a button was missing from her shirt. She would have to run to Target or Macy's later today and get a new one – maybe Mr. Fazbear would let her wear a green shirt instead. Purple just clashed with her hair...

"Child?"

"Who are you, anyway?" Roni asked, deflecting whatever question he had for her. She tore a strip off the bottom of her shirt (grateful for once that it was too long for her) and pinched it against her nose, stopping the sluggish bleeding.

"I'm Toy Bonnie," he puffed his chest out a bit, "But everybody calls me Blue."

"Why Blue?"

"Because the others kept getting Bonnie 'n' me confused."

"So, you know the other animatronics? The ones upstairs?" Roni confirmed. If this guy wasn't part of Gold's crew, then she could use his help to get back upstairs and find a way to stop those thugs!

Blue tilted his head, ears flopping to the side the same way Bonnie's did when he was amused. "Of course, darlin'. They're family. They even come down every few months and update us on how the pizzeria is doing."

"So if they needed help, you'd go upstairs and help them, right?"

The green eyes narrowed, clouding with mistrust. "What, exactly, are you doin' down here, sugar? You aren't a kid. Who are you?"

Roni took a deep breath, hoping this wouldn't end up like her first few nights on the job nearly did. "M-My name is Roni Byrd. I'm the night guard." She tensed, cringing slightly, waiting for the inevitable 'naked endo' scenario to begin.

"What are you flinching like that for, honey?"

As much as Roni loathed nicknames, 'honey' was a lot better than 'endo' and 'stuff' and 'suit.'

"Sorry," she apologized, pulling the strip of shirt away from her nose and checking to see if the bleeding had stopped (which it had). "It's just, the first time I met the others, they kind of...well you see, they thought I was an endo..."

"Oh honey," what was with this rabbit and pet names?, "you ain't got nothing to worry about. Scotty-boy fixed that error in our programming _years_ ago." Blue waved her concern off, and she decided to leave the whole 'possessed-by-Golden-Freddy-explanation' alone for the moment. "Now, what were you saying about the others being in trouble?"

Roni grimaced as she told the tale. "Four men broke in through the backdoor upstairs. They grabbed me when I was in the security office and held a gun to my head to make me do whatever they said. They took me to the dining hall, and forced me to send the others – Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Donnie – into the backstage room. One of 'em locked them in, then they threw me down here when they learned I didn't know where the store's safe is. The others won't do anything, since they think I'm still being held hostage."

"One question, dear. Who's Donnie?"

Roni bit her bottom lip, feeling her heart tighten as she explained. "My little brother. Mr. Fazbear said I could bring him with me tonight, so he could meet the animatronics for real. He and Foxy really hit it off – they're two swashbuckling peas in a pod. I knew Foxy would love him." She quickly wiped at the spontaneous tears that had appeared in her eyes. "He's eight, but his birthday is in November. He'll be nine then. He's upstairs with the others, locked in the backroom."

Blue's ears were rigid on his head, and he bared his teeth as he listened. "Well that won't do at all," he growled when she was done. He leapt to her feet (much like Bonnie did when Roni would sneak up behind him and yell), and held out a hand. "Come with me. We'll get this all sorted out before anyone else can get hurt."

"Anyone _else_?"

The look Blue gave her was not encouraging, and she reached up to touch the burn on the side of her face. "Oh, right."

"You're just like Mangle, darling – always thinking of others before yourself." Blue rolled his eyes as he helped her up and led her across the dusty room. "You two will get along _famously_." He opened the door to the large main room, but was stopped in his tracks by a frantic squeak from Roni, who was suddenly fighting against being led into the darkness. "What in the world has gotten into you?" He demanded.

The guard's eyes darted back and forth, searching for a hulking shape or a pair of white pin-prick eyes. "Golden Freddy was down here earlier," she whispered. "He...a few months ago, he tried to kill me, but the others fought him off and saved me."

"You mean old Moldy Goldy?" Blue snorted. "That bear has a rotten attitude and an even worse suit." A tug brought the girl against his side. "Just stay by me. We're just going to run next door and wake up Miss Chichi."

Before Roni could question him, they were walking into the main room. Blue turned left and followed the wall, the light spilling from his own room illuminating the corner of the basement enough for Roni to see. The rabbit kept her between himself and the wall, his green eyes occasionally darting through the darkness and large ears constantly twitching. They reached the next door in less than a minute, and without bothering to knock Blue threw it open and pushed Roni inside. His eyes did the odd black-and-white thing again, and the florescent light buzzed to life.

"Really, Blue, don't you know how to knock?"

Roni stared at the chicken animatronic – who she assumed to be 'Toy Chica' – that was sitting in the middle of the room, settled neatly into a nest made of discarded table cloths. It was as big, it not bigger, than a king-sized bed! The toy was much... _slimmer_ than her counterpart, and had on a hot pink skirt and a bib that said 'Let's Party!' instead of 'Let's Eat!'. As Blue shut the door behind him, Toy Chica stood and glared at the pair.

"And who is this? You can't just bring random strangers into my room, Blue!"

"Now is really not the time, Chichi-"

"Oh, and when is then? The next time you barge in with a friend?" Chichi sneered. "What is a human doing down here, anyway? Tell him to scram!"

"Chi," Blue growled, ears flattening against his skull. Roni shuddered at the sudden angry tone in his voice. Apparently Blue didn't get angry often, because it shut the chicken right up, and she stared at him with surprise. "This is Roni. _She_ is the security guard upstairs."

"How can she be guarding _upstairs_ if she's _down here_ playing around with you?"

"Because the gun-wielding thieves who broke in locked her down here."

The chicken didn't have a comeback prepared for that scenario. Her beak clacked shut, blue eyes widening in shock.

"You still have that first aid kit in here somewhere, don't you?" Blue looked over her 'nest,' which was stuffed with pilfered books and magazines (some of which were gifts from the 'bots upstairs), crayons and paper, and several stuffed animals, which she had nabbed from the prize corner leftovers stored away down here. Like the other rooms, there were cardboard boxes stacked in the corners and against the walls. Without saying anything, Chichi made a beeline for one box and began to shuffle through it.

"Roni," the guard glanced up at the bunny, "Let Chichi help you get bandaged up, dear. I'm going to find Mangle and Ted. They'll help us with those evil men upstairs." He squeezed her shoulder, then looked at his band-mate. "Chichi, be nice. I'll be back with the others in a minute."

"I'm always nice!" The chicken snapped as he left the room. Scowling after his departing fluffy tail, she dragged a large white box with a red cross on the top into the middle of her nest. "You," she pointed at Roni, "come here and sit down."

The guard stayed standing by the door. "Er, you really don't have to help," she insisted, "It's just a little burn, I can take care of it. I don't think it's even second degree, you know? More like a sunburn-"

"Shut up and sit down."

Well, so much for being 'nice', Roni thought as she carefully picked her way through the tablecloths to where the chicken was sitting. She sat down slowly, careful not to disturb the books or stuffed animals, and watched the chicken dig through the first-aid kit for what she needed.

A wet wipe wrapped in a foil square landed in her lap. "Clean up your face," the bird ordered, "All that blood is turning my tanks." Without comment (Roni really did not want to end up on _any_ animatronics bad side, and her throbbing pin-riddled wrist agreed), she tore open the square and unrolled the white cloth. After double checking the package to make sure it didn't contain any alcohol, she cleaned off her nose and chin, then folded the wet wipe over to a clean side and dabbed at the burn. The cool fabric actually felt nice, so she left it there for a moment. Now that she was sitting still and able to think, her body was making sure to let her know that she was hurt in several places. Her knees ached, her head was beginning to pound, there was a knot on the back of her scalp, and she was fairly certain her stomach might be bruised from landing on top of Golden Freddy when that idiot threw her down the stairs. Maybe there was some Aleve or Tylenol in the kit she could take?

A cold, yellow hand taking away the wet wipe caught her attention, and she automatically jerked her whole body back when she realized Chichi had moved to sit right in front of her. The bird raised a brow but otherwise kept her face blank, apparently not impressed by the so-called 'guard.'

"Don't move. Obviously you haven't seen your face, because that 'sunburn' of yours has started to blister." She pressed the wet wipe against her cheek again, then squeezed some clear gel onto one metal finger. "This might hurt." The chicken thought to warn before spreading a thick layer of the antibacterial gel over the burn. Roni winced, but didn't make a sound. Apparently this was the right move, because Chichi hummed to herself as she pulled a large band-aid (the size of Roni's palm) and stuck it into place over the burn. "There. Do you need anything else?" The bird asked in a tone of voice that said she didn't really care what Roni wanted, she was done playing nurse.

"Are there any pain pills in there?" Roni asked after a seconds hesitation. Chichi dragged the box between them and peered at the untidy stacks of gauze, boxes of band-aids (many of which featured Freddy and Friends), and other sundry medical items. "Oh, here!" Roni pulled out a small foil packet, this one filled with Aleve tablets instead of wet wipes. They weren't the gel kind, but anything was better than waiting around in pain. She dry-swallowed the two tablets, wincing at the taste they left on her tongue.

The chicken shut the first aid kit and, after fastening the clasps, shoved it out of her nest so it sat on the concrete near the door. She turned to the guard, crossed her arms, and raised both eyebrows. "Well?"

"Well...?" Roni wanted to smack herself. "Oh! Thank you, Chichi. I really appreciate your help."

The bird sniffed, beak twitching. "I would hope so." She stood and went back to the center of the large nest, picking up the magazine she had been reading and settling back down in her spot. "I guess you can sit there," she sighed, "Just don't touch anything."

Roni obediently sat cross-legged among the tablecloths, hands in her lap, as the two waited anxiously for Blue to return with reinforcements.

* * *

 **AN: Toy Chica is a bit of a brat, isn't she?** I've seen a ton of different nicknames used for the Toy Animatronics, but I like Blue, Chichi, and Ted the best. Blue has a habit of using pet names when he's talking (sweetie, dear, darling, honey). I'm wondering how long it'll take Roni to snap at him about it...

Next chapter: more toys! Also, the hatching of a plan!

 **Please review! It's always appreciated! And I'd LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! Honestly, this chapter was difficult to get written at times, and it probably shows.**


	4. One in the Morning

**Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 4: One in the Morning**

The human had fallen asleep, and Toy Chica wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She knew all about first aid for children – cuts, bruises, scrapes, and burns all trembled before her encyclopedic knowledge of boo-boos. Adults, however, were another matter all together. The chicken went back to her magazine with a huff, trying to understand the complex cooking recipe Martha Stewart was insisting 'was a good thing.' As long as the human was breathing, it wasn't her problem.

Chichi was far more worried about her friend Blue than this wimpy night guard. He had gone to fetch Mangle and Teddy half-an-hour ago, and had yet to return. It shouldn't have taken him that long to find the two – Mangle had a room right next door, and Teddy had to be somewhere in the big main room of the basement. He liked to roam during the hours between midnight and six, when the pizzeria was (mostly) quiet and he was able to hear himself think. When they were awake, that is. They'd been asleep for years (since 1987, if Freddy was to be believed) until an earthquake two years ago woke up Mangle, whose loose wiring had been jarred. She'd activated them, but after finding out from the old animatronics that they'd been 'retired' the Toys spent most of the time sleeping. The only exception was when they had to work off the excess energy in their systems, when noises upstairs woke them, or when the oldies came down to visit and share news.

Just as she was wondering whether or not to go looking for the three, the door to her room banged open to reveal a harried looking Blue. Mangle scrambled in along the ceiling, forcing the rabbit to duck his head so he didn't get whacked by a flailing extra limb. The night guard had jolted awake at the sound and was peering around blearily, her expression half-panicked and half-exhausted.

"What took you so long?" Chichi demanded as she stood up, hands on her hips. To her surprise, Blue had to look away and cover his mouth. Was he... _smirking_?

"Sorry, Chichi, my dear. Something came up when I went to get Ted..." There was restrained laughter in his voice as he stepped into the room.

Now, an insightful animatronic would have remembered that Roni had mentioned having a bad past with a certain bear-styled being that had tried to kill her. Blue was not that kind of animatronic. The half-asleep Roni, who's body was still pumping with adrenaline due to the earlier events of the night, saw a hulking, top-hat wearing, black and white eyed shadow framed in the doorway and immediately thought that Blue had betrayed her to Golden. She screamed, making all of the animatronics wince and jump in surprise, grabbed the nearest heavy object she could (which happened to be the first aid kit) and threw it at the bear-shadow in the doorway.

The kit hit him square in the nose which, oddly enough, let out a squeak in response. The bears head rocked back, then the momentum sent it forward again, and he stumbled into the room. Roni froze in place, sitting up on her knees with her arm out in front of her. This was most certainly _not_ Golden.

The bear that entered was a lighter brown than Freddy, and had the same rosy cheeks as the other 'Toy' animatronics. His top hat had fallen off when the first aid kit made contact and landed in the large room behind him. He also had a bow tie and two buttons on his front. He was made of the same shiny, plastic material as the others, with a thin layer of felt on top, giving him the texture of a teddy bear. Blue caught him as he stumbled, helping him steady himself as he straightened. There was a dent the size of a chair leg in his red-painted cheek, and for several minutes Roni was absolutely certain she was going to die. The only question was if it would be at the hands of Toy Freddy, or out of sheer mortification at what she had done.

The bear turned his bright-blue eyes on her and spoke before she could.

"Was that _really_ necessary?" He asked, one brow elegantly arched in query. His voice was deeper than Freddy's, and had more of a British tinge to it. Roni's jaw flapped open and shut, the guard unable to form a coherent answer. While she struggled to respond, the bear accepted his hat from Blue (who had retrieved it from the main room). He dusted it off and fit it between his ears – it was just like Freddy's, only with a red ribbon around the bottom. "I feel I must also mention that I object to being called a 'mother fucker.'"

"Oh god," Roni dropped her face into her hands with a groan, shoulders slumping. Behind Freddy, Blue was having conniptions, wiper-fluid tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried keep his laughter in check. The bear was doing his best to ignore the blue bunny, though his ears were twitching in annoyance.

A metal, noodley arm dropped around her shoulder in a half-hug. Roni peeked out between her fingers to her side, to find a white fox in makeup and missing one eye (as well as most of her costume) glowering at Toy Freddy and Blue. "R-r-really, you a-a-all," her voice must have been soft and melodic once, but now it was rough with a glitch that made her stutter. "S-stop embar-ar-arrassing the p-p-poor dear." The fox was hanging from the ceiling, her body stretched abnormally long.

"Apologies," Toy Freddy – Teddy, as Blue had called him – reached behind him and smacked the rabbit on the head. Said rabbit gave an indignant squawk but obligingly stopped his giggling. "Now, what brings you down here, Miss-" he stopped, "Excuse me, what was your name again?"

"Roni. Roni Byrd. I'm the night security guard."

"What are you doing down here, then?"

Blue sighed dramatically. "Teddy, darling, I already _told_ you what happened."

"Yes, but your stories are often less than reliable."

This was met with an insulted gasp. "Are you calling me a _liar_?"

"No," Teddy soothed his second in command, "But you are prone to hyperbole."

When the rabbit didn't offer a witty comeback, the bear turned back to their visitor. "Now, Blue said something about a robbery...?"

Roni shrugged off the foxes arm and stood, wincing as the myriad of bruises she'd gained made themselves known. "Yeah. Four men broke in and held a gun to my head. The animatronics – er, the _other_ animatronics – are locked in the back room by the stage. My little brother is in there too. The men were looking for the safe – when they realized I don't know where it is, they threw me down the stairs." She rubbed the back of her head, peering up through her bangs at the bear in embarrassment. "I guess what's when I met you."

"Mm," Teddy ran his fingers over the dent on his cheek, "I heard a gunshot and was going to investigate. When a human opened the door I played deactivated, and then you landed on top of me." Blue snorted again, but the rest of them ignored him. "Are the other animatronics safe? And your – brother, did you say?"

"Yeah," Roni swallowed hard, "They should be okay. The men said that as long as I did what they said, nobody would be hurt. The animatronics are locked in the back – as long as they don't try anything, everybody will be safe."

Teddy rubbed at his chin, eyes squinting in thought. "As long as they're out of the way, we can get upstairs and stop the men before they do anymore harm."

"WHAT?"

"There's no need to shout," Teddy frowned. "We are not going to allow these men to steal from the restaurant or damage anymore property." He straightened his bow tie, standing tall and straight. Roni ignored the height difference (seriously, _why_ did they make the bloody animatronics seven feet tall when they were meant to interact with children?).

"You _can't_!" Roni stumbled out of Chichi's nest and grabbed his arm. "They have _guns_! You could be seriously hurt."

Blue, who was leaning against the door frame, cross his arms and snorted. "Darling, _guns_ don't scare us. They would have to land a direct hit on our endoskeleton. The only one at risk here is Miss Mangle." The fox, still hanging from the ceiling, stuck her tongue out at him. "We can take the thieves out easily."

"NO!" Roni barred her teeth at the two in the doorway. "If they fire their guns, they could hit my brother! I'm not going to let you put him at risk!"

Teddy _growled_ at her. She took a step back in surprise, automatically raising her hands in front of her. "You are not in a position to tell us what we can and cannot do. Your authority ends at the basement stairs. We will protect this restaurant, even if it's not our own."

Chichi moved to join their circle. "We could ask _him_ for help..." She suggested hesitantly.

" _Him_? No, thank you." Blue sniffed. "You know he'll demand something unreasonable in exchange."

"Isn't it w-w-worth i-it if it m-m-means nobod-d-y gets hur-r-r-rt?" Mangle suggested.

"No." Teddy shook his head, voice brooking no argument. "We will go upstairs and take care of this ourselves." He turned his gaze on the seething night guard. " _You_ are going to stay here. Do not follow us, do not try and help."

"But-"

"You failed as a night guard and now we have to clean up your mess. Do not make it worse." The bear turned on his heel and left. Blue stepped aside, allowing him to pass.

"Sorry, honey." He offered Roni a sympathetic smile. "The boss-bear has spoken. We'll take care of those thieves in no time." He elbowed past Chichi to wrap her in a quick hug. "I'll keep an eye on your brother for you, promise." He whispered.

Chichi and Mangle (still clinging to the ceiling) left to join Teddy, who was waiting for them in the main room. After a last pat on the head Blue joined them. The bear was still glaring at Roni, and she returned it with equal heat.

"If you follow us, we will not be responsible for your safety. I'd suggest you stay down here and wait."

With that, the four marched off towards the stairs, leaving a panicking, furious big sister behind.

* * *

"I'm tired." Donnie had been passed on to Freddy's lap, and the child was leaning against the bears fluffy tummy, eyes drooping. His whine brought a chuckle from the old animatronic, who gently ran his paw through the boys hair. Foxy had taken up watch beside the door. Chica and Bonnie, at a loss of what to do to be helpful, had decided to assist him by sitting _against_ the door, keeping it from opening.

"You can take a nap," Freddy said softly, moving the child so he was sitting sideways, able to rest against the bears tummy and chest. The bear wrapped his arms around the boy, holding him close. "We'll wake you up when your sister gets here."

"Do you think Roni's okay?" The boy had closed his eyes, lingering on the edge of sleep.

"I'm sure of it." Freddy simulated breathing, allowing his chest to rise a few centimeters, then drop. The boy in his lap relaxed further, drifting off within a minute.

"Do you really think she's okay?" Chica asked, picking at her bib in order to keep her fingers busy.

Freddy frowned, keeping his eyes on the napping child. "I have to believe she is. And if she isn't..." He raised his head, and the others were almost startled by the flat, empty anger in his eyes, "There are four spare suits back here in need of new endoskeletons."

* * *

Roni stood in the doorway of Chichi's room, squinting as she watched the four 'toy' animatronics mount the stairs. The light streaming from Blue and Chichi's rooms barely illuminated the larger main room, but she could see the reflection of their odd costumes as they broke open the door, then silently disappeared through it. She leaned on the door jam, seething. If anything happened to her brother, she would tear those bots apart bolt-by-bolt.

Minutes passed, but there was no explosion of sound up above. Slowly, the woman began to relax. Maybe those Toys would be able to end this without anybody being shot or killed. Slumping against the door jam, she peered into the main room. It did not take long for her to realize that _the room was peering back_.

Just outside of the halo of light Chichi's room provided, a pair of white pin-prick eyes were watching her. When their gazes met, a bright smile composed of neat, white teeth split the shadows face. Then, like the Cheshire cat from hell, it vanished. Roni swore as the light behind her flickered, then went out – after thirty-odd years, the florescent light had finally given up the ghost. The light in Blue's room was still on, and it barely illuminated the path to the stairs.

The guard was at a loss of what to do. She could either stay in Chichi's room, or in Blue's room (preferably Blue's, since it was still lit!), or she could brave the dark and the Cheshire-shadow, escape up the stairs and pray that she could get through the door and into the restaurant proper. The vanishing shadow was what had her most worried – it didn't appear to be Golden Freddy, but the young woman didn't want to take any chances. Nibbling on her thumb nail, she decided that she could be of more use upstairs than in the basement, and began to pad silently across the large basement to the stairs.

For once, she didn't trip, nothing jumped out at her, and there were no sudden noises. Thanking whatever deity was listening for her sudden change in luck, Roni made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Of course, that was when her luck ran out. At the top of the stairs, the shadow figure was standing and staring at the closed basement door. Roni froze at the sight, then slowly began to back away before it could see her. It heard her (somehow) and turned to smile down at her, before opening its bright white teeth and letting out an ear-shattering shriek.

Roni shrieked in return and bolted, running to the dark corner of the basement opposite the stairs and diagonal from Blue's still-lit room. She could barely see, and was hoping that the shadow creature would have equal trouble in the darkness. This corner was full of cardboard boxes, all stacked on top of each other to create walls, with a curving path through the center. It was almost like a maze, and Roni navigated it as quickly as possible.

Panting and coughing from the dust she'd stirred up, the girl didn't see the box in front of her until she'd run into it. The box was huge – just past her hip in height, and easily as wide as she was tall. Squinting, the guard could barely make out paint on the box – it looked like blue with a purple stripe on each side. It was covered with a thick lid. She was about to side step it when she heard something behind her.

"Niiiiiight guaaaaard..." The voice was husky, almost sounding broken. It floated in the darkness and Roni shivered as it seemed to caress her ears. She glanced behind her, but the maze of cardboard boxes kept the shadow thing from seeing her. She'd reached the end of the path, neatly boxing herself in. Heart racing far beyond what was normal, Roni looked for a hiding place. The only thing among the cardboard stacks was the plywood box. She dug her nails beneath the lid and strained to open it. The hinges didn't want to cooperate – they were rusty from disuse, but luckily silent as she finally pried the lid open. A swirl of stale air hit her in the face, but there was no time to gag – the shadow thing had to be getting closer. Silently, Roni climbed into the box, especially careful to set the lid back in place atop the box without making a noise.

When the box lid wasn't thrown open within a minute of hiding, the guard allowed herself to sit on her rear instead of crouch like a coiled spring. She scooted back until her back was pressed against the plywood wall. Whatever had been following her – not Gold, he wouldn't have played like that, so it was some other kind of ghost – had given up when he couldn't see her. Roni let her head drop to her chest with a heavy sigh.

These paranormal events should have been bothering her, but they weren't. Instead they'd become almost...routine. After learning the animatronics were sentient, then facing down Golden Freddy, learning about his possessive tendencies, and helping Freddy and the others defeat him, she'd become...not immune, but desensitized to the odd goings-on. She still saw Gold lurking in the shadows every once in a while, waiting to catch her alone, but the others were careful to stay near her at all times. Funny, that had completely slipped her mind tonight – this disaster would have given Gold the perfect opportunity to kill her. She wondered where he was.

A knock on the top of the box jerked Roni out of her reminiscing, and she had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep from making any noise. Knuckles rapped against the plywood once more, and a voice Roni recognized echoed through the box.

"Puppet," it was the low, raspy snarl of Golden Freddy, "open up."

"Oh god, no," Roni whimpered, pressing herself into the nearest corner of the box. Had her thoughts unintentionally summoned him?

"Puppet, I know you have company. Shab saw the night guard over here not ten minutes ago. Humans don't just disappear," a dark chuckle split his sentence, "at least, not until I get my hands on them." The guard bit down on the side of her hand to keep from saying anything else, her wide eyes glued to the lid of the box above.

Roni was completely oblivious to the stirrings of the original occupant of the box only a few feet away from her.

* * *

 **AN:** I honestly do not like the second half of this chapter. It just seems clumsy to me, and I might end up re-writing it. **What do y'all think of it?**

Thank you so much for the reviews and follows - I really appreciate them, and re-read every single review I get every day to keep me inspired! I'd love to have more of them to read.


	5. Time For Friends and Enemies

**Universal Language**

 **Chapter 5: Time For Friends And Enemies**

 _"Helloooo_."

Oh _shit_ she wasn't alone in the box.

 _"What are you hiding from_?"

A face appeared in the darkness, and oddly enough Roni could see every inch of it, even without a light source. It – _he_ , if the voice was any indication – had a white oval-shaped face that reminded her of a carnival mask. He was peering at her through two elegant, almond-shaped eyes that were black except for the white, pin-prick pupils she was so used to seeing. Two long stripes of purple descended from his eyes, meeting his mouth, and there were spots of blush on his cheeks and red on his lips.

The face floated closer, so it was right in front of her. _"Well?_ "

At that moment, an impatient Golden Freddy decided to knock again, harsher this time. "Wake up you stupid circus reject!"

" _Oh_ ," a frown twisted the mask, " _Him_." He winced when the bear knocked again. Roni nodded hesitantly, pulling her hand out of her mouth and wiping it off on her shirt.

There was a crunch above them, then a loud screech as metal nails scraped the top of the box. "PUPPET!"

 _"Please excuse me_ ," the puppet requested cordially. Without waiting for a response, he turned away from Roni and, in one swift motion, stood. The tall animatronic easily threw open the lid of the box, smacking Gold in the face with it. A surge of black smoke – or was it goo? Smog? Aura? - followed him, cloaking his lithe form and giving him an overall air of anger.

"WHAT?"

Roni cringed into the corner, staring wide-eyed at the incensed puppet. Gold, meanwhile, took a moment to rub at his dented chin before turning an arrogant smirk on both of them.

"Ah, there you are. I knew you were awake." The bear straightened his bow tie and sneered up at the puppet – the toy animatronic easily towered over him. "Now, I believe you have something that belongs to me." His eyes roamed to the corner of the box, where the night guard was sitting stone-still and barely breathing.

The puppet moved so he was standing between the two, lacing his fingers beneath his chin and leaning forward on the edge of his box. "Sorry, Gold, but this dear guard and I have some catching up to do. I'm afraid you'll not be killing her tonight."

"You think you can stop me?" The bear took a threatening step forward. Without twitching, the shadows swirling around the puppet swarmed upwards. Arching above his head, they slammed like a wave into the bear, sending him flying back into the surrounding cardboard walls.

"Yes. Yes I do." The puppet purred as the shadows retracted and surrounded him once more. The gold bear stumbled to his feet, one ear dangling from wires and his hat missing. "Now shoo. My box is crowded enough as it is."

Gold looked as though he wanted to argue, but a well-placed twitch from the mass of shadows had him scowling in defeat. He faded from their sight, mouthing something that was most certainly not complimentary as he went.

The puppet turned and looked down at Roni with a smile, clapping his hands together in front of him. "Now, what am I going to do with you?"

* * *

Nearly forty-five minutes of silence in the backroom was torn apart by the loud, ear-splitting screech of metal-on-metal. Donnie, who'd been happily napping in his heroes lap (and slightly drooling on the bear animatronic, who didn't seem to mind), came awake with a miserable mumble. He rubbed at his eyes and watched as Foxy, Chica, and Bonnie all stood to search for the sound.

The grate that covered the air vent high up in the wall popped off and fell, landing right on Freddy's head. The bear grunted in pain and shoved the grate off, glaring up at the vent. A sheepish white fox looked back.

"S-s-sorry, Fred-d-d-y." Mangle stuttered as she grabbed onto the ceiling and climbed out of the vent. In the bears lap, Donnie squeaked in alarm and hid his face in Freddy's furry chest.

"Don't be scared, son," Freddy chuckled and rubbed the boys back. "This is Mangle, she's our friend."

The toy fox crawled down the wall and coiled up beside Freddy, cooing over the little boy. "You must be D-D-Donnie," she said sweetly, "Your s-s-sister is wo-o-rried about you."

 _That_ got the boys attention. His head snapped up and he stared at the costume-less fox. "You talked to Roni? Is she okay? Those men had – they had _guns_ but I didn't hear one but she hasn't come back yet!" Tears gathered in his eyes.

"She's f-f-fine." Mangle reassured the little boy, her fuel pump melting at the worry on his face. "She s-s-sent me to check up on y-y-you," the vixen lied, figuring that it would help the boy feel safer for the moment.

To all five of the animatronics surprise, Donnie held out his arms to the toy. After only a seconds hesitation she picked him out of Freddy's lap, hugging him with her noodley arms. He hugged her back, the settled on the floor beside her and began systematically examining her torn up body. While he was distracted, Freddy dropped his voice low and whispered to Mangle.

"Is Roni okay?"

"She's f-f-fine."

"Where are the other toys?"

"L-l-looking for the intr-r-ruders."

"WHAT?"

Donnie jumped when Freddy yelled, and looked up at him curiously. The bear groaned. "Donnie, why don't you go ask Foxy for another story?" The kid was smart enough to know a dismissal when he heard one.

He gave Mangle one more hug before he went, though. "Thank you for looking after Roni," he told her softly, before going to sit by Foxy near the door. The pirate obligingly started up one of his tales, quickly distracting the child.

"What is Teddy thinking?" Freddy hissed as soon as the boy was out of ear shot.

"He's just w-w-worried about anybody g-g-getting hurt." Mangle tried to soothe him. "You know h-h-how he g-g-gets."

"Those men have _tasers_." Freddy snapped, yanking at his bow tie in anxiety.

"W-w-w-what?"

" _Tasers_. You Toy models have more metal in your costumes than we do – it's ten times more dangerous for you all to be close to them!" Freddy stood and began to pace along the wall, tapping his teeth together in anxiety.

Mangle crawled up along the wall so she hung at eye-level with the bear. "I'll g-g-go w-a-a-arn them." Her voice glitched more than normal, showing her anxiety.

The bear nodded. "Tell Teddy to go back to the basement with the others. I'm not going to risk the safety of _everyone_ here just because he has a hero complex."

Mangle snorted. "H-h-he might n-not listen t-t-to me."

"Do your best."

With a nod, Mangle scrambled up the wall and into the air vent, swiftly disappearing from sight.

* * *

Roni wasn't sure if she was in danger or not. The puppet being was humming as he inspected the damage Gold had done to the edge of his box. He was dusting it off, picking at little splinters and paint chips. He'd done something to turn the basement lights on as well, though she hadn't seen him flip a switch or pull a cord. He'd just...snapped his fingers and they had flared to life. Roni was still in the corner of the box, watching him with confusion and hesitation. She had started chewing on her thumbnail, going over and over what it had said to Gold before the bear vanished.

"You're scared." The puppet had stopped his nitpicking and was sitting on the edge of the box, staring down at her with curiosity. It wasn't a question, just a statement. "And hurt." A long arm with three clawed fingers reached out to touch her face, but Roni jerked away. The puppet smirked. "And jumpy. My, my, what has happened to you tonight to make you such a little fraidy-guard?"

Roni scowled and dragged herself upright, leaning against the box. "I'm _not_ a fraidy-guard."

"Sure." The puppet snorted in disbelief. "You're shaking like a newborn kitten because you're _brave_."

The guard huffed in annoyance and began to climb out of the box. "Thanks for sending Gold away, but I have to go save my little brother and the other animatronics."

The puppet _stretched_ so that he was blocking her exit, peering up at her from his empty eye sockets. "Your brother is just fine," he reassured her, "as are the other animatronics."

She paused, halfway out of the box, and raised a brow. "How do you know?"

"Oh, I know _everything_ that goes on in the restaurant, above and below." He was _floating_ now, at eye level with her, and for a crazy moment the grin on his face reminded Roni of a cat who caught a fat bird for dinner. "And _you_ , my dear, have been _incredibly interesting_ to watch."

"I've been here for five months. Why haven't you come and said hello before?"

"I like my box," the puppet shrugged, "And you haven't been in any real danger yet."

There was a beat of silence, the night guard staring at him with her jaw dropped.

"WHAT?"

Instead of flinching back, the puppet merely widened his smile and flipped over so he was floating on his back, looking at her upside-down. "Oh, I knew Gold would never get his hands on you."

"He nearly shoved me in a suit!"

"Mm, but the others stopped him, like I knew they would. I do have to say, you have wonderful taste in music."

Whatever other comments he had were muffled when Roni put her hand on his mask and shoved him away from her. With him out of the way, she finished climbing out of the box and set to straightening her destroyed uniform. "Thanks for saving me and all, but I need to go."

"Off to fight the bad guys?" The puppet was standing now, towering over her. Luckily, Roni was used to it, the puppet wasn't _bulky_ like Freddy and Teddy were. It was much less threatening.

"No, off to stop those Toy animatronics from making it worse." The guard turned, took a step forward, and ran right into something made of shadows.

"Hi!"

"EYAAAAGH!"

"See, you are a fraidy-guard."

The guard had lost her balance and fallen back on the floor. She glared up at the puppet, who was hanging in the air and giggling like an idiot. In front of her, a rabbit-like shadow crouched in front of her, only his eyes and teeth visible in the purple shadows that made up his form. He was smiling, and she recognized it as the same smile from the shadow at the top of the stairs.

"Hiiii Mr. Night Guard!" He said in a sing-song voice. "Goldie Bear said that you were dangerous and mean and a bad person but you don't look like a bad man. Does he look like a bad man, Mr. Marionette?"

The puppet got his cackling under control enough to answer. "No, not a bad man. A bad _woman_ maybe, but I don't think so."

"But you're not a woman!" The shadow gasped, looking at Roni. "You have short hair and you don't have those bulgy things on your front like all the mommies upstairs have."

The guard folded her arms across her (admittedly flat) chest and glowered at both the shadow and the puppet. The former was wondering why she had turned bright red, while the latter was rolling around on his back in the air, laughing like a lunatic.

"Who are you two, anyway?" She demanded, at the end of her rope. "And _what_ are you?"

"Oh dear, did I forget to introduce myself?" The puppet swung the lid of his box closed and leapt on top of it, striking a pose. "I am The Marionette!" His feet were apart, one hand splayed across his chest while the other stuck out from his side. The shadows that seemed to cling to him swirled around and created a crown above his head. "But you," he leapt off the box, grabbed her hand and, instead of shaking it, leaned over it and brushed his steel lips against the back, "may call me Mari."

Roni yanked her hand out of his grip and rubbed at it, giving him an odd look. "Right," she said slowly. "And you?"

"I'm Shadow Bonnie!" This time, her hand was grabbed and given a vigorous shake, that the shadow continued to do as he spoke. "But the others call me Shabby or Shab or Dumbass or That Guy Stuck in The Wall Because He Forgot How To Phase Properly!"

"As you can see," Mari pried Shab's hand from hers, saving her from the excessive handshake, "we are not _normal_ animatronics."

"I'm not an animatronic at all!" Shab chirped happily, bouncing on his large feet.

"So...you're ghosts?"

"In a sense." Mari squinted at her, hand stroking his chin. "You do not seem alarmed by this fact."

"I have a bit too much on my mind right now to be freaking out over this." Roni pinched the bridge of her nose, which was still sore from when she'd run straight into the shelf earlier that night. "Once those thieves are out of the way and I know my brother is safe, I'll have a proper melt down, promise."

"Ooooh!" Mari squealed again, clapping his hands together as he hovered in front of her. "I just _love_ your sarcasm! You're really bringing fresh, sassy life to this old place!"

"Look," Roni took a step back, wishing the puppet would stop invading her personal bubble, "I really need to find a way upstairs to check on my brother and the other animatronics. So can we do this whole meet-n-greet thing some other time?"

Shab pouted and muttered something about 'potlucks' and 'do we have enough crock pots?' to himself. Puppet just looked thoughtful. "Shabby, can you please keep an eye on Shaf and Gold?" He asked the rabbit sweetly. "You know, keep them down here and from trying to kill the humans upstairs?"

The rabbit snapped off a quick salute in response, crock pot shortage forgotten. "Of course!" A purple and black camouflage hat appeared on his head, materializing out of whatever ghostly aura he had. "I'll keep them distracted!" The ghost shimmered out of sight, and then a loud crash sounded from the other side of the basement, near Blue's room.

"Now that that's taken care of," Mari once more invaded her space and grabbed her arm in a tight grip, "let's head upstairs!"

Roni didn't get a chance to respond as the world spun in a sickening blur of colors around her. Within the space of a blink they had moved from the basement to the backroom by the stage. She stumbled, but a pair of thankfully-familiar purple hands caught her before she and Mr. Floor could have another date.

"Roni?"  
"Mari?"

"Wha' in blazes?"

"RONI!"

A cannonball hit her in the stomach. Once she'd gotten her bearings, the guard realized it was her little brother, who had wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her shirt. The girl gave a sob of relief and knelt down, gathering the boy in her arms.

"Oh thank god you're okay," she whispered, kissing his forehead.

"Roni I was so worried about you!" Donnie stepped back and looked her up and down. "Why is your shirt all torn up? Are you okay? Why do you have a band-aid on your face?" He looked past her. "And who's that?"

Mari was sitting on the workbench, his long legs crossed, happily ignoring the strange looks the other animatronics were shooting him. He waved when Donnie glanced at him.

"This is my, er, new friend," Roni introduced, "Marionette."

"Awww, we're friends?" The puppet grinned even wider as he got off the table and knelt in front of the two humans. He held out one hand, and without hesitation Donnie shook it. "Hey Donnie, do you want to see a magic trick?"

"Magic? Neat!" The boy scooted closer, releasing his sister and grabbing onto the puppets arm instead. She took the opportunity to stand up and approach the animatronics, who were now against the wall, looking torn between worry and bemusement.

"Roni!" Chica grabbed the guard first, dragging her into a tight hug. "We've been so, _so_ worried about you! Are you okay? What happened to your face? How did you meet the Toy Animatronics? Mangle said you were in the basement. How did you meet Marionette?"

"Slow down, Chica, the lass be tellin' us everythin' when ye let her breathe."

Once she'd been released, Roni managed to answer. "I'm fine. I just have a little burn." She poked at the bandage on her cheek, amazed the adhesive had remained this long. "I, er, _ran into_ Toy Freddy and the others downstairs. Then this shadow thing called 'Shadow Bonnie' chased me around, and I hid in Mari's box..."

"Shab chased you into Marionette's present?" Bonnie was staring at her as though she'd grown two heads.

"Well, yes..."

To her astonishment, both Bonnie and Freddy began to snicker. Chica merely looked amused, while Foxy let out a loud chuckle. Freddy was the first to get himself under control, and he patted her shoulder. "It sounds like you've had quite the adventure. You'll have to tell us all about it during tomorrow's shift."

"If I'm still employed tomorrow," the guard mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"Letting four men break in, damage property, and steal from the safe hardly seems like good guard work."

Freddy scoffed. "Oh please. Fazbear will be more worried about you, Donnie, and us all being safe than with the money still being in the vault. He has insurance on every inch of this place, _and_ you."

"Me?"

"Well, on the guard position in general. It's why he was able to pay your hospital bills after the whole, erm, _thing_ with your arm."

Roni sighed and looked at her wrist. It was still aching slightly, but was completely healed thanks to the surgeries she'd had. Fazbear had paid for all of them. This explained how.

"Still, I feel like I'm letting him down. I mean, I didn't even get a call to the police in!"

"I can help with that!" Mari floated into view, hugging Donnie, who thought that floating through the air like this was the _coolest thing ever_ , if his exclamations were any indication.

Freddy crossed his arms, frowning. "Really? And _why_ are you being so helpful? You don't do anything for free..."

The ghost gasped, releasing Donnie. Roni jolted forward, ready to leap forward and catch him, but Mari's shadows caught the boy and sent him zooming around the room on what looked like a black flying carpet. Ignoring the twitching older sister, Mari kept his hurt gaze on Freddy. "I'm _insulted_ that you think I would only help _my family_ in exchange for some kind of _prize!_ " He was met with four flat looks and one confused one. He huffed and crossed his arms. "Oh, _fine_! I want Roni to promise to visit me in the basement if I help out."

Freddy and Foxy had both opened their mouths to respond, but the guard stopped them.

"Okay."

" _Okay?!"_ Freddy grabbed the guards shoulder. "Roni, listen, Mari may seem nice and on the up-and-up, but he's _tricky_ an-"

"Stop," she pressed her hand against his nose, making it squeak and shutting him up, "I know it's probably stupid to make a deal with a flamboyant ghost who has issues with personal boundaries, but I don't really have much of a choice now, do I? I have to get to the office and call the police, and that teleportation trick of his is my best option."

"But-"

"I will do _whatever_ it takes to keep my brother safe. If that means making a deal with the devil, then I'll make that deal, sign it in blood and everything."

"Well, I won't require the exchange of bodily fluids. I'll just take your word for it." The puppet beamed at her.

"So we have a deal, right? You take me to the office so I can call the police, and I'll come spend time with you for," she paused, considering, "How about the first hour of my shift, every night."

"Deal!" Mari called his shadows back over, and they dragged the whooping Donnie along and dropped him in the ghosts hands. "I'm going to help your sister with her job for a bit, matey," the puppet sat him on the work table, "But before I go, I have one last trick!" He reached behind the disappointed boys ear and "pulled out" a plush toy. It was of Foxy, complete with a little eye patch, plastic hook, and pirates hat.

"Wow! Cool!" Donnie looked the plush up and down, grinning. "Thanks, Mr. Marionette!"

The puppet beamed. "You are very welcome, young man. Now, Roni," he grabbed the guards arm, "Let's adjourn to the security office!"

In a blink, the two were gone, shadows and all.

* * *

Sid and Ace were annoyed. It was hot as hell in the building, and they had yet to find the safe. It wasn't in the guards office, the kitchen, the dining hall, or any of the storage rooms. The last place to check that made sense was the bosses office, but it was locked tight and Samuel, the brains of their little operation, had yet to get the door open. It was nearly three in the morning now, and they were running out of time. If Fazbear stuck to his schedule, he'd be here at 6:15. They'd have to find the money, kill the guard and her brother, erase the tapes, and be long gone before then.

Ace was picking at his teeth with a toothpick he'd stolen from the dispenser at the register counter. While Sam and Eugene (the last of their team, with the nose Roni had thought of as a squashed tomato) tried to pick the door lock, Sid spun around on the chair he'd stolen from the guards room. The dining hall was eerily quiet, though he could of sworn he'd heard voices coming from the backroom. Sam reassured them that it was just the animatronics before going back to cursing the lock and all it's progeny.

"Hey Ace, did you hear something?" Sid scooted the swivel chair towards his partner, who was sitting on one of the tables and staring at the stars hanging from the ceiling.

"No."

"Are you sure, man? I though I heard footsteps from the other hall..."

The managers office was in the east hall, just past the kitchen. They were ignoring the west hall at the moment in favor of lazily waiting for the two 'brains' of the operation to finish opening the door.

Ace flicked his toothpick to the floor and stood, pulling the taser from his belt. "Fine, lets go see what's making your noises." He stomped towards the west hall, muttering to himself. "Anything is better than waiting for Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum to finish opening one damn door..."

The two, properly armed with tasers, stepped into the dark west hallway and were immediately met with twin glowing eyes.

Two screams echoed throughout the restaurant, promptly stopped by the other party.

* * *

 **AN:** Squeeeee! I love writing puppet! In my mind, he's a bit Bi-Polar, depending on the current situation in the restaurant.

Thanks for all your input on the last chapter! I'm glad people enjoyed it.

 **Please review, it's appreciated, encouraging, and motivating!**


	6. Three Outs at Three O'Clock

**Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 6: Three Outs at Three O'clock**

Only a moment after arriving in the office, Roni and Mari were startled to hear a scream down the west hall. The puppet grabbed the guard before she could dash off, keeping his abnormally long arms wrapped around her waist and one hand over her mouth as he focused on 'seeing' down the hall.

"It's Teddy and Blue," he whispered. "They've been tased by the thieves. The ugly one and the tall one," he trailed off, squinting in thought as his shadows watched the two humans drag the animatronics into the dining hall. "This is bad."

Roni managed to drag his hand off her mouth. "Why?"

"They're going to get angry at the others and go into the backroom. Stay here, I'll take care of this." Puppet released her, but before teleporting away he pointed a stern finger at her. "Stay. Put."

As soon as he was gone, Roni stuck her tongue out. "Mehmehmehstayputmehmehmeh," she grumbled, grabbing the tablet off the desk and flipping through the videos. The dining hall popped up, and she stopped to watch as the two men – Ace and Sid – dragged Teddy into the room by his arms. Blue was quickly pulled in after him. Both had their eyes closed and, other than sporadic twitching caused by the influx of electricity, were still. The ugly man ran into the room, looking stressed and angry, and from what she could hear echoing down the hall he began to demand an explanation.

Ace and Sid turned their backs on the animatronics in order to answer. The shadows beneath the animatronics began to wiggle, and Roni had to stifle a laugh as the two Toys vanished from sight. Ugly yelled, and the other two turned around and began to freak out. Smothering her snickers, Roni put down the tablet and grabbed the phone. She got as far as dialing the nine and a single one before her hair was grabbed and she was yanked back, dropping the handset. It bounced and dangled off the edge of the desk by its cord.

Salt-and-Pepper threw her to the floor, strands of bright red hair left in his fist. "How the hell did you get back up here?" He demanded, pulling a knife from his belt. Roni scrambled backwards, all humor gone from the situation. The man didn't turn the knife on her, though – instead, he cut through the phone cord, severing any chance she had at calling for help. "There, that's taken care of – honestly, a corded phone. How old is this place?" Any sign of the suave, calm man from earlier that night was gone. He shuffled through the papers and devices on the desk, searching them for any hint of a safe or loot.

While he was distracted, Roni shakily got to her feet and eyed her belt. It was hanging up by the west hall door, innocently holding her plastic baton (basically worthless) and metal-cased flashlight (a damn good club in a pinch). Before she could make a move for it, Salt-n-Pepper turned around and thrust the knife at her.

"Ah, ah, ah, you sit your pretty ass back down." He snapped. When Roni only smiled in reply, he drew his lips back in an angry sneer. "What's so funny?"

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am to have friends in high places." She folded her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels, a satisfied smirk curling her mouth.

"God isn't here to help you."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about God..."

Toy Foxy took that as her clue to swing down, screeching in the mans face at the top of her audible capacity. He gave a rather girly screech and slashed at her with the knife. The fox dodged and slammed her uncovered first into the side of his head. The feminine yells cut off as he dropped like a stone. The guard kept the smirk on her face as she watched him hit the floor, feeling a bit of shameful satisfaction when his head hit the tile with a hard _thunk_.

"Thanks, er, I never caught your name earlier, actually." Roni flushed, but the fox just smiled kindly at her, mismatched eyes understanding.

"M-m-my name i-i-is M-m-mangle." She stuttered.

"Thanks, Mangle!" Roni grabbed her belt and secured it around her waist, fingering the flashlight and ignoring the baton. She knelt beside the unconscious Salt-n-Pepper and took his taser, sticking it in her pocket. She hesitated a moment before pulling off his belt and un-threading his holster, gun still in residence. After a moments fumbling, she slipped it onto her own belt. She wouldn't use it but it was better in her hands than his. "Now, what say we kick those other assholes out of our restaurant?"

"No-no-no cur-r-rsing." Mangle scolded before swinging back up to the ceiling and silently following the guard into the west hallway. The two sunk into the shadows and crept towards the dining hall, where the other three men were about to get a rather large surprise.

* * *

"Yar, matey!" Donnie wiggled Stuffed Foxy's hook at the real Foxy, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and indulging the boys imagination. After watching his sister disappear with a talking puppet in a puff of black smoke, the boy had shrugged off any surprise and instead started narrating a story about Stuffed Foxy going on an adventure for Black Beard's treasure. Unlike his sister, who took a bit of time to understand and accept new and surprising things, Donnie rolled with whatever was going on around him. "I'm gonna keel-haul ya!" Stuffed Foxy's hook poked the real Foxy's hook, making an odd 'ping' sound.

"You dare to challenge the famous Captain Foxy?" The pirate demanded gently, poking the doll in the stomach.

"Aye!"

"Well then, I s'pose I'll have ta accept."

Before a truly epic battle could begin between Foxy and his plushie counterpart, the frames of Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie appeared on top of the workbench. Both were offline, twitching every few seconds. The others could see the electricity arcing through the newer bots frames – the thinner bits of plastic were lined with metal, making them sturdier but also more susceptible to the tasers effects. Marionette appeared alongside them, looking slightly worried but mostly amused.

"Mari!" Freddy rushed to his counterparts aid, looking frantically for a way to siphon off the extra energy.

"Do calm down," Mari poked at Teddy's nose, eliciting a squeak, "They'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?" Chica shifted Blue so he wasn't lying on top of the bear, and adjusted them so they were side by side.

The puppet snorted. "I'm always sure."

"Wait, where's Chichi?" Bonnie asked. Mari groaned and disappeared. He returned within a blink, Chichi in tow. The chicken stumbled, squawking in panic as her arms pinwheeled in order to keep her balance. Bonnie caught her, and had he been human he would have blushed bright red as his hands settled on her hips.

"Maaaaari!" The slimmer Chica groaned, pushing the purple bunny away from her. "Why did you grab me? I almost had that bastard!"

"Chichi!" Freddy clapped his hands over Donnie's ears. "Language! Honestly..."

The bird rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and glared at the puppet. "Well?"

"The men have tasers, Chi." Mari explained, mirroring her movements. "I was saving you." He pointed to Blue and Teddy, who had stopped twitching but were still offline. The chicken gasped and rushed to their side, fussing over them. Before he could explain what had happened, the puppet stiffened, and his eyes took on a far-away gaze the others (minus Donnie) knew well.

When he didn't move or speak for a few moments, the animatronics grew worried. "Mari?" Bonnie hesitantly stepped closer to the Toy, "Marionette?"

"Mangle took out one of the men – he's unconscious in the office. He cut the phone-line before Roni could call the police." Even Mari's voice sounded distant, gone from them all but physically. "Now they – oh you stupid girl!"

"What?!" Donnie did what none of the others dared – he grabbed Mari's arm and pulled on it frantically, knowing that the only 'stupid girl' currently in the restaurant was his sister. "What is she doing?"

The puppet's gaze refocused, then narrowed in annoyance. "Honestly, after saving her life, she goes and does _this_?"

"Does what?"

"Get herself killed!"

 _"WHAT?"_

Mari cringed when Donnie yelled, quickly remembering where he was. All four original animatronics were glaring at him, and Chica was quick to gather the boy up in her arms. Chichi, from her position by the workbench, was well within reach to deliver a deserved smack across the back of the puppets head.

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Mari swept down, floating horizontal to the floor so he was eye level with the child. "Roni is fine – she's fine!"

"Promise?" The boy gave him a wide-eyed look, sniffling.

"Yes, yes, promise. She's just going to do something – something foolish, and I need to go help her with the other animatronics." He motioned to Freddy, Foxy, and Bonnie. "Now, I need you to do something for me while I help your sister."

"What?" The boy asked curiously.

"I need you to take care of Chica and Chichi, okay? You can't let anybody into this room, got it? Not until I come back. Can you do that?"

"Yes!" Donnie beamed. "I'll take good care of them!"

"Thank you, Donnie. I'm depending on you, okay?" Mari beamed at the boy, then with a snap of his fingers, he and the others disappeared.

* * *

Roni and Mangle hovered in the shadows of the west hall, watching the three intruders search frantically for the vanished animatronics.

"Okay, you remember the plan?" The guard hissed, pulling the taser out of her pocket.

The broken animatronic nodded and crawled up the wall, then silently crept into the dining hall using the ceiling. Roni gave her a few moments to get into position, then straightened and, with a fake air of confidence and a hummingbird-heart, strode into the dining hall.

"Lose something, gentlemen?"

The three whipped around, hands going to their belts. Ace and Sid drew their tasers, while Eugene pulled out his pistol.

"Wha' are you doin' outta the basement?" Sid demanded, slurring around his unlit cigarette.

Roni fought the urge to scream and run at the sight of a gun trained on her. Instead, she pasted a cocky smile on her face and spoke in a light tone. "Oh, I just needed to have a word with your boss."

Eugene's gun lowered slightly, and he glanced at the east hallway. "Sam?" He called. When there was no answer, he rounded on the girl. "What did you do to him?"

"Do?" The guard faked surprise. "Why, I didn't do anything! But my friend Mangle _was_ a bit hungry..."

The white fox took that as her cue and swung down behind the men, screeching loudly. Sid and Ace screamed in surprise, tripping over themselves as they tried to turn and back up at the same time. Eugene smoothly spun around and pointed his gun at the creatures head. In response, Mangle's jaws snapped around the pistol, crushing the barrel and destroying the weapon. A whack from one suit-less arm sent him to join his comrades on the ground.

"Here's how things are going to go," Roni moved to stand beside the fox, crossed her arms and glared down at the men, who were still staring at Mangle with tense apprehension. "You're going to drop your tasers and guns, gather what's left of your boss from the security office, and leave without causing anymore harm." She leaned forward threateningly, "Or Mangle here gets a three-course meal. Capiche?"

Ace and Sid, mere lackeys, looked to Eugene, the self-proclaimed second in command. He eyed Mangle, who grinned, revealing red-stained teeth. It was really just smeared, mostly-melted cherry Jolly Rancher Roni had found in the office desk, but to the men it looked like blood left over from the foxes early morning snack.

"Y-yeah. We got it." The man slowly moved to stand, the useless gun in his hand. Unfortunately, that was when Mari decided to intervene.

The dining hall was plunged into darkness as tendrils of shadow wrapped around the florescent rods, completely blocking out the artificial light. Roni yelped and backtracked, bumping into something tall, stiff, and fuzzy. Gulping, she turned and looked up. A pair of white pupils glared down at her. She instinctively cringed, but a gentle paw patting her shoulder reassured that the anger wasn't for her.

The shadows vanished, revealing Freddy to be the one she'd bumped into. Bonnie, Chica, and Mari all stood nearby, surrounding the four humans. Mangle, a bit startled by the sudden change, remained clinging to the ceiling. When she was sure the other animatronics weren't paying attention to her, she began picking the Jolly Rancher goo off her teeth, not wanting to alarm them.

"Well, Roni, you've truly earned your title as Night Guard." Mari crossed his arms and smirked down at the three men, who were frozen in disbelief. "But, I think it's time our boss took care of these fools. Freddy?"

A deep, slow laugh echoed from the bear. He gently pushed Roni aside and stepped forward, a cruel smile stretching across his muzzle, blue eyes narrowed as he glared down at the three men. The lead singer had been looking forward to this all night. He opened his mouth, ready to read the men the riot act and scare the snot out of them at the same time.

"Wait!"

The bears mouth snapped shut, and he rolled his eyes and glanced down at Roni. "Yes?"

"They're leaving," the guard insisted. "Really, they just said they would." She eyed the men. "See, they even dropped their tasers. There's no need to drag this disaster out longer than necessary, right?"

"Wrong!" Mari had resorted to floating, his shadows wriggling behind him in an eager, angry mass. "They are _not_ leaving."

"Why not?" Roni asked.

"From what I heard of their plan, once they'd gotten the money, they were going to kill you," the girl looked a little disconcerted at that revelation, " _and_ Donnie." Silence reigned, the other animatronics just as stunned by this news as Roni obviously was. "They've obviously done this before. That makes them murderers. We can't just let them go on to kill someone else."

The three intruders cringed as the guard turned her gaze to them, eyes flashing with a dangerous level of anger. She took a step towards Ace, feeling grim satisfaction when the man flinched. When she bent down over him, the man cringed away. Pleased to be causing the fear for once tonight, she grabbed the keys hanging out of his pocket and straightened back up.

"They're all yours, Freddy." She walked straight past the men, between Bonnie and Mari, and headed for the stage and still-locked backstage room.

"What?" Eugene squawked, all three adopting panicked expressions. Roni paused and turned her head. The eye the men could see was filled with rage and disgust. She moved her gaze to Freddy, evenly meeting his eyes.

"Kill them. Spare them. Stuff them in a suit. I don't care anymore." The guard went back to strolling across the room, picking at the keys and finding the one labeled 'backstage.' "Hell, let Foxy draw 'n' quarter one of 'em. That could be amusing." She climbed onto the stage, found the old brass key that was tagged with masking tape, and disappeared into the backroom, slamming the door behind her.

Mari's mouth twisted into a downright evil grin. His shadows began to block out the ceiling lights once more. "You heard her, boys," he tapped his claws together. "Who wants to die first?"

* * *

Teddy was woken by something pressing his nose and giggling at the squeaking. He groaned as his nose was pressed again and again, eliciting a laugh from whoever was doing it. They stopped as his eyes fluttered open, vision rebooting fuzzily. A face – young, round, and human – appeared in his sight, looking down at him curiously.

"Miss Chica! Miss Chichi! He's waking up!" The boy smiled brightly as the bear focused on him. "Hi! You're finally awake! Everyone's been really worried about you."

Teddy sat up, careful not to bump heads with the young boy, and quickly took in his surroundings. He was in the parts and services room in the upstairs of the restaurant. Blue was slumped beside him, still offline. Chica and Chichi were sitting across from them, both adopting expressions of relief when he turned his gaze on them. The boy was on his knees between him and Blue, looking ecstatic that at least one of them were awake.

"Hello," Teddy smiled down at the bouncing child, "You must be Donnie. Your sister said you were visiting tonight." The boy beamed like a ray of sunshine. "Thank you for helping me wake up."

Before the boy could speak, the locked door rattled, clicked, and was thrown open. Roni stormed in, slamming the door shut behind her. To the animatronics surprise, the guard immediately sunk down against the door, sitting with a thud, head thrown back. Her face was taunt, fighting between tears and rage.

"Sis?" Donnie got to his feet and ran to her side. "Sis, what's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

Roni took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it go in a whoosh. She forced a smile for her brother. "Yeah, Don, I'm fine." She stood back up and hugged him close to her side. "Are you behaving yourself back here?"

"Yeah, look! I protected Miss Chica and Miss Chichi just like Mari asked me to!" He pointed to the two chickens, who were looking worried at Roni's odd display of emotion. "And I helped to wake up Mr. Teddy Bear!"

"Oh, you did?" The guard raised a brow and shot said bear a smirk. "Well, I'm sure Mr. Teddy Bear is very grateful for your help." She could see annoyance in the Toy's eyes, but he didn't say anything, his tongue held at bay by the presence of the child. "Is Blue still out?"

"Yeah," Chica was the one who answered. She poked Blue's foot. "I think he took the taser a bit harder than Teddy did."

"Will Blue be okay?" Donnie asked, wiggling out of Roni's hug. He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the animatronics.

"Oh yes, Blue will be just fine." Teddy reassured the boy. "Oh my, what's that on your face, Miss Guard?" He pointed at Roni's face. As soon as Donnie turned around to look at his sister, the bear kicked Blue in the side.

"GYAAAAAH!"

The rabbit shot upright, looking around in panic. As soon as he identified the who, what, where, and when, he shot his bear a glare and rubbed at the new dent on his side.

"What that _really_ necessary?" He asked sarcastically, quoting the bears earlier remarks.

"Yes." Teddy smugly snapped his bow tie.

"Ugh. You're getting a bit too big for your britches, dear." Blue got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Wow," Donnie looked up at the bunny. "You're really pretty, Miss Blue!"

The rabbit turned his glare on whoever said that, but as soon as he saw it was a child his expression softened. "Oh, hello there! You must be little Donnie." He knelt down in front of the boy. "I'm _Mr_. Blue."

"Oh. But you look like a girl."

"I kind of do, don't I? You know, when I first met you sister, I thought she was a boy."

"You _did_?"

"Mmhmm. Just remember, you can't judge somebody by what they look like, okay?"

"That's what my granny says! You can't judge a book by it's cover!"

"Your granny sounds very smart."

"Oh, she is!"

Roni sighed in relief as Blue and Donnie hit it off. She'd been a bit worried about the rabbits flamboyant attitude overwhelming the boy, but it seemed everything was fine. Teddy nudged her away from the pair, speaking to her quietly once they were away from Donnie.

"What is the situation with the thieves?"

To his surprise, the girl shrugged. "I left them to Freddy and Mari."

"Mari?!" Teddy's eyes widened. "How did he get roped into this?"

Roni sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "After you guys went upstairs, Shadow Bonnie chased me into Mari's box."

The bear's gaze softened, amusement in his eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. Haha. Laugh at the dumb guard," she griped. "Listen, I'll tell you all the whole story tomorrow night, promise."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Mr. Teddy Bear?" Donnie grabbed the bears hand, tugging on it. Behind him, Blue snickered.

"Yes, Donnie?" Teddy bent down, giving all his attention to the child.

The boy looked up at him with curious eye. "Are all the bad men gone now?"

Teddy sighed and swept the boy up in his arms, holding him on one hip. "The bad men are still here, but they aren't going to hurt anybody anymore."

"Oh. Can we go back to the main room then?" The boy wiggled a bit. "I kinda have to, uh, _go_."

The bear chuckled. "Well, that's up to your sister. Is it safe to go to the main room, Miss Guard?"

"Should be," Roni moved to the door and cracked it open. She honestly didn't think the animatronics were going to hurt the men – at the most, they'd just knock them unconscious. "Yeah, looks like the men are all tied up." She threw the door open and stepped out onto the stage.

The three men had been hogtied with the papery-plastic bracelets from the registration counter and left in the middle of the room. Foxy was standing guard beside them, snarling whenever one tried to move. Freddy and Bonnie were standing nearby, talking quietly. Mari was floating near the ceiling, helping Mangle clean the rest of the melted candy off her teeth.

"Ahoy, me little matey!" Foxy waved when Teddy stepped onto the stage, still carrying Donnie. Chichi, Chica, and Blue were close behind. "How ye be faring with yer new mateys?"

"Hi Cap'n Foxy!" The boy waved eagerly as Teddy sat him down. Before he could dash off, Roni grabbed his hand.

"Whoa, kiddo. Let's run to the bathroom first."

The boy sighed, as though it were a great chore put upon him. "Okaaaaay," he whined.

"You're the one who said you had to go!" Roni chuckled and, still holding his warm hand in hers, led him towards the east side of the room. "C'mon, it's only," she checked the clock above the stage, "3:30. You'll still have some time with Foxy before it's time to go. Though the police might need to ask you about what happened tonight."

They reached the little hall that led to the bathrooms when it all went to hell.

"You!"

Roni, Mangle, and Mari all wanted to smack themselves. None of them had thought to check on the fourth man, the boss, thinking that he'd be unconscious for the rest of the night. He stood at the end of the east hall, ignoring the rest of the room in favor of glaring at the night guard. He had a small gun in hand, and one leg of his pants was caught in an ankle holster. He pointed the gun at Roni, snarling.

"You stupid bitch! You've ruined everything!"

The girl acted instinctively. She drew the stolen gun from it's holster around her waist. It felt heavy and unwieldy in her hand – she'd never held or fired a gun in her life. At the same time, she shoved Donnie behind her, making sure he was safe from harm.

The boss saw her hand shaking and smirked. "I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill that little brat and leave his guts all ove-"

The top right part of the mans skull disappeared in a haze of crimson rain and brain splatter. His eyes grew wide as a second bullet hit the same point, obliterating the right lobe of his brain. The man collapsed, the clattering of his gun hitting the floor beside him the only sound in the now silent room.

Across from him, Roni lowered the gun, now two bullets short.

* * *

 **AN:** **Roni would like to remind you: You do not threaten her brother unless you want to be seriously injured. That is all.**

 **Please REVIEW. It's very much appreciated! :D And inspiring, encouraging, and motivating!**


	7. Four AM Wake Up Call

**Universal Language: Cuneiform**

 **Chapter 7: Four AM Wake-Up Call**

"Ugh...wha...it's four in the morning. This had better be important."

"It's Jon."

"Jon? Oh fuck. It's never good when you call."

"Ha-ha. Look, I just got a call from Bonnie-"

"The bunny?"

"Yes, the bunny. Listen. He said that some men broke into the restaurant, and that someone was shot."

"Oh shit. Has an ambulance been called?"

"Apparently, there's no _need_ for an ambulance. He said something about Marionette and the Toy animatronics too..."

"As I said before: fuck."

"Just get over there, Schmidt."

* * *

Chief of Police Mike Schmidt pulled up in front of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria the same time as his old boss and friend, Jonathan Fazbear. He cut the sirens on his cruiser and climbed out, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt instead of his uniform. From the passenger seat of his car came Jeremy Fitzgerald, still wearing his jumpsuit. Jon was dressed more neatly, in slacks and a button-down shirt. He hurried across the parking lot, grabbing a heavy key ring from his pocket and jamming it into to the door. Mike and Jeremy followed, the latter hauling a large emergency first-aid kit with him.

Just as Jon got the door open, he noticed their extra guest. "Jeremy?" He looked to Mike for an explanation.

"You mentioned the Toys." Mike shrugged, hand hovering over his holster as they hovered by the door. "I never got to know them, but Jeremy did."

"I didn't even realize you two knew each other." Jon held the door open, ushering the two men into the dining hall ahead of him. All three stopped there to take in the room.

In the center of the room were three men, hog-tied with the plastic bracelets used at the registration counter. Freddy and Toy Freddy were standing guard over the unconscious trio, talking quietly between themselves. Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica were nearby, the former being fussed over by the later. The bunny looked as though he had sustained a bit of damage to his side and nose, and the chicken was doing her best to repair him. At the entrance to the east hall, several tables and chairs had been pulled over and draped with table cloths, blocking whatever was behind it from sight. Marionette was floating by the tables, beside Shadow Bonnie, Shadow Freddy and, to the shock of all three men, Golden Freddy. They were quietly but frantically conversing, gesturing to whatever was being hidden behind the sheets. A few feet away, Bonnie was mopping the floor, cleaning up what looked like vomit. The rest of the animatronics were gathered on the stage, surrounding two shaken-up humans.

Roni and Donnie were sitting side by side, the younger leaning against his older sister. He had a Foxy plushie in his hands, and was moving it around listlessly, his gaze not really taking in the toy. Roni was in much the same state, one arm thrown around her brother and holding him close. Instead of playing with a toy she was absentmindedly stroking Mangles head with her right hand, which had a torn strip of her shirt wrapped around it. The damaged fox was curled up beside her, head in the night guards lap. Foxy was sitting beside the boy, silently watching him with a protective gaze. Chica was keeping an eye on both of them, speaking softly about nothing in particular, just hoping to soothe them with her chatter.

The front door swung shut with an audible bang, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Marionette immediately made a shooing motion to Gold, who grumbled but disappeared. Shab and Shaf stayed beside the blockade, doing something with the shadows there, while the puppet hurriedly floated across the room to meet the men. He landed in front of them, his usual cocky smile absent in favor of a worried visage.

"Marionette," Jon greeted the puppet quietly. Before he could say more, Jeremy pushed his way forward.

"Jer!" Mari gave the man a genuine smile, surprised to see him.

"Nette," the man greeted with a jerky nod. "Do those three men need any immediate medical help?" He asked, nodding to the hog-tied intruders.

"Even if they did, I wouldn't tell you." Mari crossed his arms and sniffed in disdain. Jeremy nodded in understanding, before quickly passing the puppet and heading to the stage. The others watched him go.

"Marionette," Jon got the animatronics attention again, "What, exactly, happened here tonight? Are Roni and her brother alright?"

"They're...well, they're not alright," the puppet admitted, rubbing at his forehead. "They will be eventually, but right now I think they're a bit overwhelmed."

Mike frowned. "I've never seen you so worried, Marionette."

"Officer Schmidt," Mari greeted. "With you as night guard, I never had much reason to worry."

"I appreciate the confidence," Mike glanced at the hall, where Shaf and Shab were still working with the shadows. "Bonnie said that somebody was hurt?"

"Dead." The puppet didn't hesitate to clarify.

"Of course. And those two are...?"

"Making sure the spirit doesn't hang around," Puppet grimaced. "He was killed in anger, by fear. We have more than enough ghosts in the place. We don't need a murderous gangster-wannabe bent on revenge crashing here as well."

"How did he die?" Jon asked what the two men really wanted to know.

The puppet actually hesitated, glancing to the stage before answering in a near-whisper.

"Roni killed him."

* * *

Roni's head snapped up as one of the men who had entered with Mr. Fazbear approached her. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him and tightening her grip on her brother. The man noticed the movement and stopped, putting his hands up to show he was unarmed, other than a large, bright-orange first aid kit.

"I'm not here to hurt anybody," the man said, putting the kit down on the stage. They were sitting a few feet away from the edge, giving him plenty of room to pull out what he needed. "My name is Jeremy Fitzgerald. I'm a paramedic."

"J-J-Jer!" Mangle lifted her head and smiled at the man, then twisted her noodley neck to speak with Roni. "He's s-s-safe!"

The girl paused, then marginally relaxed her hold on her brother. Donnie remained leaning against her, watching as Jeremy opened the orange kit and pull out several different packages and boxes. "How do you know Mangle?" He asked when the man pulled out what looked like a suture kit.

"I used to work here," Jeremy answered, smiling at the boy. "Well, not _here_ here, but at one of the old restaurants. I was the night guard, just like your sister is now."

"You're one of the rare ones," Roni smirked when he gave her a confused look, "I mean, you're one of the guards who befriended the animatronics instead of being run off."

"Oh, yes. I am one of those." Jeremy pulled himself onto the stage and sat on his knees. "Mike – he's the other man over there – is one of us 'rare ones' as well. He called me up and brought me here so I could take a look at your two, to make sure you're not hurt."

"We're fine," Roni sniffed, going back to stroking Mangles head.

"If you don't mind, I'll be the judge of that." Jeremy frowned at the girl, who was obviously in pain from her stiff movements. The strip of purple shirt – one of her sleeves, judging by what remained of her shirt – was spotted with blood. He looked to Donnie, who was watching his sister with worry. "Donnie," he pulled out a miniature flashlight and motioned the boy over, "Come here so I can check you over, please."

Mangle strategically wiggled more of herself onto Roni, weighing her down and keeping her from stopping Donnie from moving. Ever since Sam had literally dropped dead, the girl had refused to let him go. Donnie obediently moved to sit in front of Jeremy. The EMT quickly checked the boys eyes, reflexes, and asked if he had any bumps or bruises. The boy proudly showed him a cut on his shoulder, explaining in great detail how he'd gotten it falling out of the tree in the front yard the day before. Despite it already being scabbed over, the man obligingly cleaned it up and put a band-aid on it. Once he was certain the boy hadn't sustained any other physical injuries, the man turned his focus to Roni.

Jeremy thanked whatever god had granted the animatronics sentience that Mangle was there. She kept the night guard from moving, frowning at he when Roni quietly swore and tried to push her off.

"N-N-No s-s-swear-ring!" Mangle reminded, making herself comfortable. "Now-w-w b-be good."

"C'mon now lass, be a good example." Foxy laughed, pulling Donnie against his side since his sister was otherwise occupied.

Before Roni could offer a snappy retort, Donnie gave her a worried, wide-eyed look. "Please, sis? I'm scared that you're hurt. Please let the doctor look at you?" He asked, voice dripping with worry and sadness.

The girl sighed, shoulders dropping as she gave in. "Fine," she conceded, missing her brothers victorious smile. Jeremy scooted forward and carefully began to examine her.

* * *

While Jeremy and Roni had their battle of wills on stage, Marionette led Mike and Jon over to the shadowed barricade. Shab and Shaf were still there, controlling the shadows and making sure that whatever soul the man had moved on to the next life. Jon and Mike had never formally met the two ghosts – Mike had never known about them until now, while Jon only ever saw them from the corner of his eye while working late. Both shadows nodded to them, their normally vibrant and mischievous personalities dampened by the nights events. They stepped aside, giving the men room to look at what was hidden behind the tables.

The man was, quite obviously, dead. He was lying on his back, the right side of his head covered with blood and what Mike could easily identify as brain matter and shredded skin. There was a pool of blood beneath his head, congealed in a tacky red puddle. His eyes were staring off at nothing, still a clear gray. It would be a few hours yet before they began to cloud over.

"He had a cell phone," Mari commented, holding said phone out to Mike. "We used it to call Jon. The phone line here was cut, and the other men didn't have their own phones. We haven't been able to find Roni's phone either." Mike nodded in understanding and, using a Kleenex, took the phone without leaving any finger prints.

Jon stepped away, covering his mouth with his hand and swallowing hard. He was glad he hadn't eaten anything before rushing off, otherwise he would be making more work for Bonnie. Mike stayed by the barricade, speaking softly with Mari, trying to get an official accounting of what had happened during the night. Promising himself a scotch when this was all said and done, the manager joined Blue and Teddy, asking how they were active and interrogating them on their activities.

* * *

At 4:30, Jeremy gave a frustrated growl and yelled for Mike and Jon to join him, shattering the tense silence that animatronics and humans had held since the gun went off. Roni was still pinned down by Mangle, though the guard was able to channel her displeasure by crossing her arms, scowling, and huffing at the paramedic and Toy animatronic in turn. The police chief and manager quickly moved to join them at the stage. Mari, Blue, Teddy, and Bonnie were close behind.

"How are you two feeling?" Jon asked, looking between Roni and Donnie with worry.

"I'm okay," Donnie gave the kind man a smile, hugging his Foxy plushie tight. Roni just glared at them.

Jeremy rolled his eyes at his old friend. "Miss Roni here needs the hospital."

"I do not! They're just bruises, they'll go away."

"You have a concussion, multiple contusions, a second-degree burn, and I wouldn't be surprised if you had bruised or fractured ribs, not to mention internal bleeding from being thrown down the stairs!" Jeremy snapped, slamming his emergency kit shut with far more force than necessary. "Not to mention your hand."

"What's wrong with her hand?" Jon asked, craning his neck to see the appendage. The torn strip of shirt had been replaced with clean white gauze and tape.

"The gun bit her." Jeremy explained.

Donnie gasped. "It _bit_ her? I didn't know guns had teeth!"

Mike chuckled, sitting on the edge of the stage. "They don't, Donnie." He drew his own gun, making sure the safety was on, and took notice of how Roni winced and made as though to lunge in front of the boy. The officer made sure he kept the gun pointing away from them both as he explained. "This is an automatic pistol. You see this top part? It slides back when you fire it. If you hold it wrong, that sliding bit will grab the skin between your thumb and finger and tear it up."

"Oh!" Donnie grabbed his sisters right arm and tugged it towards him, looking at the clean bandage. "Are you okay Ron? Do you gotta go see another doctor?"

"I'll be fine," Roni pulled her hand back and returned to stroking Mangle's soft head, refusing to look any of them in the face.

"You need a trip to the ER." Jeremy groused.

"I do not!"

"Granny can make her go to the hospital!" Donnie piped up, looking at his sister with worry and annoyance.

"Don!"

Mike rolled his eyes as the siblings glared at each other. "Jon, you're going to need to shut down the restaurant for a few days. I'm going to call in some officers and a detective, and see if any of the tech guys are on duty yet. Jeremy, get an ambulance here. Tell them not to use their lights – Roni doesn't look like she's going to keel over just yet." He looked at the animatronics gathered around them. "You all need to return to your places before my officers get here."

"I want to speak with _all_ of you tomorrow night," Jon told them, focusing his gaze on the Toy animatronics. "Marionette, are your, er, friends done?"

"Let me check." Mari quickly teleported to the barricade. He spoke with Shab and Shaf for a moment. The two vanished, taking the shadows with them. Gold flickered into view for a moment, but a few words from the puppet had him glaring and disappearing. Mari waved his hands in an odd sequence, then returned to the group. "There's no chance his spirit can linger now," the puppet announced.

"Good." Jon watched as both Jeremy and Mike called their respective offices. "Alright, Toys need to go to the basement. I'll come get you tonight when everything has calmed down."

"I'm looking forward to hearing the whole story. Feel better, Roni." Teddy tipped his hat to the night guard.

"Get some rest, dear," Blue insisted.

"B-b-behave," Mangle reminded her.

"You be good too, Donnie."

"I will Miss Chichi!"

Marionette gave Jon a short bow before teleporting all the toy animatronics directly to the basement. Mike nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw them vanish like that, but quickly shook it off and got back to his phone call. On the stage, Roni stretched her legs out in front of her, grimacing as pins and needles ran up and down the muscles. She hadn't realized how long Mangle had been using her lap as a pillow.

"Donnie," Jon reached out and took the boys hand, pulling him off the stage and walking a few feet away with him. He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to him. "Could you please dial your grandmothers number for me?"

"Sure." The boy ignored the protests of his sister and dialed, clutching the phone to his ear and waiting for the inevitable anger and worry that was sure to follow.

* * *

"You're saying that my granddaughter _shot_ a man?"

Jon was now certain that Roni had gained her flare for sass and sarcasm from her grandmother. The woman – short, round, with curly white hair and sharp blue eyes – was glaring at him over the top of her glasses, hands on her hips, large handbag just waiting to be swung about. She'd arrived before the police or ambulance, living only a few streets away. Donnie's call had woken her up, but upon hearing that there had been a break in and Roni was hurt, she'd bustled over in her little car and demanded to know what had happened. Luckily, the three men had managed to come up with a plausible story.

They explained that the animatronics had used their new facial recognition software to identify the men as dangerous criminals and had 'neutralized' the threat immediately. The fourth man, however, had snuck up on Roni, who had disarmed the other men and was still holding their weapons. She'd accidentally shot him, killing him, when he jumped out and threatened her with his own weapon. Roni had called the police while keeping Donnie on the stage with the animatronics, where she knew he'd be safe. When Jon, Mike, and Jeremy arrived, they'd had Donnie call his grandmother, bringing her here.

"Yes, Mrs. Byrd, your granddaughter shot someone, but it was in self defense. She's not facing any charges, though she did sustain a concussion while tying up the intruders. She also took a nasty fall down the stairs when looking for an extra phone, since the phone cord in the office was cut." Jeremy explained before Jon could. "She needs to go to the hospital, but she's refusing to."

Mrs. Byrd huffed, stomping past them towards the stage, mumbling all the while about 'thick-headed children taking after their bloody stubborn mother.' The two men watched her go with varying levels of amusement – that was one tough old lady.

Roni was sitting with Donnie, speaking quietly with him. The three animatronics were still on stage, locked into their off position. The guard was picking at the bandage around her hand. Mrs. Byrd gently slapped her granddaughters hand.

"Stop that picking, you'll undo the wrap!"

"Grandma?"

"Gran-gran!" Donnie jumped up and, standing on the edge of the stage, wrapped his arms around his gran.

"Hello, dear." She kissed his cheek before releasing him. "Could you please go hold the door open for the paramedics that just arrived?"

"Yes, ma'am." Donnie held his arms out, and Byrd obligingly swung him down to the ground. He ran to the front doors and pulled one open as a pair of paramedics followed Jeremy into the building, toting a rolling gurney.

"Now, Roni-"

"I'm _not_ going to the hospital!"

Byrd crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, staring down her granddaughter. Roni blushed and looked away, biting her lip.

"Cut that sass," the older woman ordered. "You're lucky you have a concussion, or you would be getting a swat for being so disrespectful!" The girls cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red. "You are injured and you are going to the hospital."

"But an ambulance costs-"

"Nothing." Byrd sighed at her granddaughters stubborn streak. "Mr. Fazbear is covering everything, as he should be."

At this point, Jeremy and the two paramedics – one woman and one man – rolled up with the gurney. The older man smiled. "Are you ready to go, Roni?" He asked gently.

Roni shot him a flat glare, but a stern motion from her grandmother had her sighing and standing up. Ignoring Jeremy's helping hand, she jumped off the stage, intent on proving all those assembled that she was fine. Of course that wasn't true, and if it wasn't for the cute paramedic catching her, she would have kissed the floor once more. Jeremy and Byrd both rolled their eyes, then smiled at each other when they noticed their symmetry. He helped her up onto the gurney, taking note of her slower movements and the size of her pupils. The whole time, Roni pouted, unhappy at being manhandled and forced to go to the hospital.

"Will you be riding in the ambulance with us, ma'am?" Jeremy asked as they began to push the gurney towards the doors.

"No," Byrd searched through her purse as they walked, finding her car keys among the tissues and hard candy. "Donnie and I will follow in my car."

Jeremy nodded in understanding. "Of course. I'll see you there."

Byrd stopped by the door and watched as her grumpy, scowling granddaughter was loaded up in the ambulance. Honestly, that girl was just as stubborn as her mother. Donnie leaned against his grandmothers side, smiling when an arm was wrapped around his shoulder.

"Do you need anything from home before we go to the hospital?"

"No, ma'am." Donnie had a stuffed toy fox in his hands. He hugged it tightly as the ambulance left, lights and sirens blaring. "Roni's gonna be okay, right?"

"Oh she'll be fine." The woman rolled her eyes and ushered him towards the little Oldsmobile parked near Fazbear's car. "Now, let's go make sure she doesn't drive that Mr. Jeremy crazy."

* * *

Roni was noticeably absent that night. The animatronics immediately came to life at nine, eager to greet their guard and check on her health. Instead, they were met with a harried looking Jon, a smirking Mike, and a scowling Jeremy gathered around the table closest to the stage. Jon had papers piled in front of him and was marking on them with a blue pen. Jeremy was griping about something (or, if the animatronics senses were correct, someone), which Mike seemed to find largely amusing.

"Where's Roni?"

All three men jumped and swore, most notably Jon as he left a large blue line across the page. Mari had appeared, floating above them with a worried expression. The basement door creaked open and the Toy animatronics filed in, joining their counterparts on stage. Even Shab appeared, wiggling in place on the stage as he looked around for his new friend.

"Roni is still at the hospital." Jeremy reported, sounding exhausted. "Her grandmother insisted she stay the night, otherwise she would have snuck out and come to work." The man dropped his head on his arms, which were folded on the table. "That girl has a death wish."

"No, no, just a strong sense of duty." Mike patted the mans shoulder, smirking. "So, doc, what was the damage?"

Jeremy ran a hand through his graying hair. "Concussion, bruised ribs, lacerated hand, multiple contusions, er, bruises," he clarified when the animatronics appeared confused, "and that's not even getting into the mental trauma of killing a man. She'll be back in tomorrow night."

"Is Donnie okay?" Chica asked worriedly.

"He's fine, physically." Mike answered this time, having spent a good portion of the afternoon with the boy in the ER, trying to get as much of the story from him as possible (as well as reminiscing about the animatronics). "I spoke with him about what he saw. He seemed – not okay with what happened, but he understood _why_ Roni shot the man. From what I understand, she was trying to aim for his arm, not his head..."

"Hell of an accidental shot," Jon muttered, trying to fix the insurance claims form he'd marked up.

"Yeah. I wonder if she'd be interested in joining the force. Anyway, he was a bit shook up from what he'd seen, but I think as long as he has someone – either his sister or a therapist – to talk about it with, he'll be fine."

"Really?" Chica reminded the men more of a mother hen as she fretted about the boy. "It was such a terrible thing for him to see..."

"I've dealt with a lot of kids who've seen awful things," Mike tried to ease her fears. "Kids bounce back – they make sense of what they've seen and move on. As long as he has the right supports, he'll be fine."

"And do you honestly think Roni will let him worry about it?" Jon asked. "She killed a man to protect him. The boy will be fine with her around."

"What about Roni?" Teddy asked, voicing what the others wanted to. "Like you just said, she _killed_ a man. How will she deal with that kind of trauma?"

"Over time." Jon answered again. "I gave her grandmother the name of an excellent therapist, and I'll be paying for weekly visits for her." He frowned, scowling at the papers. "I actually had to threaten to fire Roni to make her accept the appointments."

The animatronics all gasped in tandem. "What?"

"Oh calm down, I wouldn't have fired her, but that girl has a stubborn and independence streak a mile wide." Jon finished the last page and shoved the papers into a file folder. "Now," he glanced up at Mari, who was still floating over the table, listening intently. "I want the whole story."

"Same here," Mike pulled a small notebook from his back pocket and stole Jon's pen. "I still need to write up the, ahem, _official_ report of what happened last night."

The other animatronics looked at the near-omniscient puppet with curiosity, sitting either on or beside the stage in preparation for the whole story. Mari sighed, feeling rather put upon and wishing Roni was here to add in her two cents. The telling would be much more amusing with her sarcastic remarks, he was sure.

"Alright," he crossed his legs, still floating, and looked at his audience. "Just before midnight, the backdoor near the office was broken open..."

* * *

 **AN: THE END**

 **That's it for this story. The next story - a one or two chapter shortie - will be up soon.**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, FAVES, AND SUPPORT! I APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE ONE!**

 **Also, did you guys see FNaF 4 is out? I watched a playthrough last night - it's fantastic! I can't wait to see what Scott includes in the DLC! :D**


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